Xi Jinping steps up his attempt to rescue China’s economy

When Chinagdp reported faster-than-expected economic growth for the third quarter of this year, some analysts felt a twinge of concern. They worried that China’s rulers might now rest on their laurels. Rather than pressing on with efforts to revive demand, policymakers might instead wait and see if they had already done enough. The growth target for this year is, after all, only 5%. And the central government likes to keep its fiscal powder dry.This fear was allayed on October 24th when officials approved the sale of an extra 1trn-yuan ($137bn) of central-government bonds. The sale will force the central government to revise its official deficit for the year from 3% of to a hefty 3.8%. As a consequence, the headline deficit in China’s year of reopening will be bigger than it was in 2020, the year of its first lockdowns.