Thinking About China
Opinion

China’s Plans for Economic Renewal Face Severe Fiscal Constraints

Beijing’s recently released five-year plan includes ambitious spending initiatives that seem certain to face budgetary constraints.
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China’s Plans for Economic Renewal Face Severe Fiscal Constraints
A cargo ship sails into the port in Qingdao, Shandong Province, China, on Oct. 13, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
Milton Ezrati
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Commentary
China’s new five-year plan—the 15th of its kind—shows considerable ambition. With an ongoing property crisis, deflation at both consumer and producer levels, an unresponsive consumer sector, and questions about the ability to sustain export growth to the Global South, the country’s economy certainly needs help.
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Milton Ezrati
Milton Ezrati
Author
Milton Ezrati is a contributing editor at The National Interest, an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Human Capital at the University at Buffalo (SUNY), and chief economist for Vested, a New York-based communications firm. Before joining Vested, he served as chief market strategist and economist for Lord, Abbett & Co. He also writes frequently for City Journal and blogs regularly for Forbes. His latest book is “Thirty Tomorrows: The Next Three Decades of Globalization, Demographics, and How We Will Live.”