Clear skies greeted the delegates arriving in Beijing for the last annual gathering of China’s parliament. At this year’s meeting of the National People’s Congress, the smog is thick and the economic gloom thicker. Market sentiment remains fragile, the latest data show a deepening slowdown in both industry and services, and capital flight is keeping the renminbi under pressure. A warning from Moody’s this week added to the downbeat mood: the US rating agency voiced a widespread fear that Chinese officials — previously able to engineer even the weather — may be unable to manage these strains.
一年一度的全國人大會議去年召開之時，迎接抵達北京的代表們的是晴朗的藍天。然而在今年的人大會議召開之際，濃重的霧霾籠罩了北京，經濟的陰霾更是如此。市場情緒依然脆弱，最新數據表明工業和服務業的放緩正在加深，資本外逃使人民幣持續蒙受壓力。穆迪(Moody’s)本週發出的警告加深了悲觀情緒：這家美國評級機構說出了一種廣泛的擔憂情緒——先前甚至連天氣都能控制的中國官員可能無力應對這些壓力。