chinadashboard.asiasociety.orgThe China Dashboard Spring 2020 — Asia Society Policy Institute and Rhodium Group

Skip to content Quarterly Summary Explore Reforms Trade Environment Cross-Border Investment Innovation Land Fiscal Affairs Financial System State-Owned Enterprise Labor Competition Archive Winter 2020 Fall 2019 Summer 2019 Spring 2019 Winter 2019 Fall 2018 Summer 2018 Spring 2018 Winter 2018 Fall 2017 THE CHINA DASHBOARD Tracking China’s Economic Reform Program It is the most important question for one of the world’s most important economies: is China carrying out the economic reform program it laid out in 2013? The China Dashboard tracks 10 key categories, using objective data rather than conjecture, to illuminate the state of reforms for non-economists in policy, business, and other walks of life. Explore the Reforms Trade Explore Environment Explore Cross-Border Investment Explore Innovation Explore Land Explore Fiscal Affairs Explore Financial System Explore State-Owned Enterprise Explore Labor Explore Competition Explore This Quarter's Summary - Spring 2020 Bottom Line: Sai Weng’s Lost Horse The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted governance. Beyond the health crisis, governments the world over are intervening to stabilize their economies amid the worst economic shock since the 1930s. So how are we to assess China’s economic reform progress today when there are so many crosscurrents? Is yesterday’s statist sin today’s stabilization solution? In decades past, and again at the November 2013 Third Plenum meeting that set out the Xi Jinping–era economic strategy, Beijing had determined that China’s interests required greater economic efficiency, even if that meant relinquishing some stability. But as we have documented in this Dashboard, in recent years reforms have mostly been dialed back or put off indefinitely, particularly when pursuing reform led to disruptions. Having failed to reform is not a blessing in disguise; it has not left the Communist Party with more levers of control. Reform was needed because the levers were working less effectively over time, with growth more and more dependent on debt. Past delays limit the options for Beijing now when they are needed most, swelling unemployment and property and banking system risks. There is an enduring hope that crises foster reform. As in the old Chinese proverb about an old man’s misfortune in losing a horse leading to good outcomes, an economic morass could have the hidden benefit of leading to better policy. Sometimes crises do promote reform, but will that apply in China today? Sometimes a lost horse is, after all, just a lost horse. Continue Reading About This Project The China Dashboard: Tracking China’s Economic Reform Program , a joint project of the Asia Society Policy Institute and the Rhodium Group, delivers a series of data visualizations tracking China’s progress toward its self-defined reform objectives in 10 essential economic policy clusters. The outlook for China’s economic reforms is a critical factor in the global economy, for major economies and businesses alike. Since 1978, China has made great strides in economic reform, generating both growth opportunities and also disruptions at home and abroad. However this process is far from complete, and the challenges remaining are complex and require increasing regulatory sophistication. This reality, and shortcomings in Chinese data, create uncertainty about the reform outlook, including its pace and direction. For businesses and policymakers in China and abroad, better consensus built on a shared foundation of data is needed to prevent miscalculations and foster confidence. To build a shared reference point for China’s economic reform progress The China Dashboard provides a set of independently developed resources updated quarterly: A net assessment of progress across 10 key Chinese economic reform priorities. Detailed individual assessments of each policy reform cluster, including a primary indicator, summary assessment, data analysis, and policy review. Clear methodology notes explaining the choices behind each indicator. With a problem-solving mandate, the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) tackles major policy challenges confronting the Asia-Pacific in security, prosperity, sustainability, and the development of common norms and values for the region. Rhodium Group (RHG) is an economic research firm that combines policy experience, quantitative economic tools and on-the-ground research to analyze disruptive global trends. Photo Credit: Eugene Lim/flickr Spring 2020 Quarterly Summary Explore Reforms Trade Environment Cross-Border Investment Innovation Land Fiscal Affairs Financial System State-Owned Enterprise Labor Competition Archive Trade Environment Cross-Border Investment Innovation Land Fiscal Affairs Financial System State-Owned Enterprise Labor Competition Print Created with Sketch. Subscribe Created with Sketch. Email Created with Sketch. Like on Facebook Created with Sketch. Follow on Twitter Created with Sketch. Sign Up for Newsletter China Dashboard updates Asia Society updates Rhodium Group updates Sign Up...