{"id":122366,"date":"2021-10-05T05:32:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T05:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=122366"},"modified":"2021-10-05T05:32:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T05:32:18","slug":"china-risks-slower-growth-without-more-market-competition-u-s-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/china-risks-slower-growth-without-more-market-competition-u-s-study\/","title":{"rendered":"China risks slower growth without more market competition – U.S. study"},"content":{"rendered":"
BEIJING (Reuters) – China risks slower growth if it does not do enough to spur market competition by allowing the private sector to play a bigger role in the economy and greater two-way flow in cross-border investments, a report showed on Tuesday.<\/p> \u201cWithout a market-oriented shift, China will struggle to maintain a growth potential that exceeds 3% annually by the middle of this decade,\u201d according to a report released by U.S. think tank the Atlantic Council and consultancy Rhodium Group.<\/p>\n China\u2019s economic growth has gradually eased from 2011 to 2020, expanding in the single-digits compared with the relatively big gains in the years just after it joined the World Trade Organization in late 2001. China has set a target to grow its economy by at least 6% in 2021 after it managed to eke out growth of 2.3% in pandemic-hit 2020.<\/p>\n While China has made progress in some areas such as trade, where it has cut tariffs to a level comparable with or below those of OECD economies, recent policy signs are at odds with a market-oriented course, the report said.<\/p>\n Beijing\u2019s sweeping crackdown on private firms in sectors from technology to education this year has raised the prospect of stronger state control in the years to come, the report said.<\/p>\n The pursuit of a so-called \u201cdual-circulation\u201d strategy to make China less reliant on the outside world, backed by President Xi Jinping, also risks backtracking on years of tighter economic integration and interdependence, it said.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Xi\u2019s pledge to make markets decisive at the start of his tenure is at risk of failure,\u201d according to the report.<\/p>\n The report said a relative lack of access to overseas investments by ordinary Chinese people has led to an abundance of capital domestically, leading to overcapacity investment in many sectors at home.<\/p>\n Inadequate market competition and inefficiency will reduce productivity and in turn gross domestic product – \u201cpotentially by trillions of dollars within five years\u201d, it warned.<\/p>\n Chinese reform advocates say Beijing has been avoiding potentially disruptive changes due to worries over economic and social stability and resistance from vested interests such as powerful state-owned companies, which Xi has described as the champions of the economy.<\/p>\n