China Wealth Creation: New Realities In 2022

This story is part of Forbes’ coverage of China’s Richest 2022. See the full list here.

China as a market—post the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress—remains vulnerable to further disruption. Still, the world’s second largest economy is expected to expand by 5% in 2023, and account for 30% of global growth, according to the IMF. Beijing is focusing on policies to keep prices and unemployment under control—as youth joblessness hit nearly 20% in July, a record high and far above the national rate that hovered around 4% last year. To shore up the economy, state-controlled banks are being encouraged to increase loans to infrastructure, manufacturing and property sectors.

The specter of added U.S.-China tensions and “unswerving” zero-Covid policies are weighing on investor sentiment. Deteriorating ties with the West could have a psychological and material impact on the country’s long-term economic performance. The yuan, down more than 12% in this past year against a surging U.S. dollar, is expected to slide further, putting it on course for its weakest annual performance in nearly three decades.