China’s re-globalisation paradox

At the annual World Economic Forum meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland, China’s economic tsar, Liu He, met a number of “old friends” he had not seen during his country’s long battle with covid-19. In a solicitous speech, he acknowledged the importance of in-person meetings, lamented the fragmentation of the world and called for economic “re-globalisation”. In a philosophical aside, he also emphasised the “duality” of things.China’s recently abandoned “zero-covid” policy cut the country off from the rest of the world, contributing to the fragmentation Mr Liu bemoaned. But China’s period of isolation had a notable duality of its own. Although the movement of people across China’s borders was sharply curtailed, the movement of goods from China to the rest of the world was spectacular. Despite all the disruptions, China’s exports grew by almost 30% in dollar terms in 2021 and by another 7% in 2022, according to figures released on January 13th. Perhaps in-person meetings are overrated.