COVID-19 IN CHINA – ONE YEAR ON

China’s economy weathered the COVID-19 storm but there are still pressures to face China’s bounceback from the pandemic shocks of early 2020 was one of the few economic success stories of last year. This year, however, the world’s second largest economy has rattled global financial markets as long-running worries about the huge debts amassed by its commercial sector crystallised around the woes of Evergrande, the cash-strapped Chinese property giant. It became clear in recent months that the Shenzen-headquartered conglomerate would struggle to meet deadlines on bond interest payments totalling tens of millions of dollars. With some analysts estimating that China’s bloated property sector accounts for up to 25% of GDP, the Evergrande saga triggered fears about contagion not only in the Chinese property market but also the wider global financial system. As of early October 2021, the jury was still out on whether Evergrande was ‘too big to fail’ or whether Beijing would step in to protect homeowners while denying the company a bailout in order to underscore its commitment to rein in corporate debt. One thing is certain: the crisis has exposed some of the long-standing...