- China's preliminary third-quarter economic growth rate is the slowest ever forecast. And a "triple threat" of developmental factors could send the country into an even longer contraction, according to a Nomura economist.
- The three primary threats are a projected decline in the nation's population starting in 2032, a middle-income trap, and the US-China trade war.
- The factors could wipe out China's manufacturing advantage and send multinational corporations to other nations for cheap labor, Nomura's Richard Koo wrote.
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China's economy is grinding to its slowest levels of growth in decades.
The country's second-quarter growth of 6.2% was the slowest rate seen since it began reporting quarterly figures. The preliminary third-quarter estimate of 6% to 6.5% is the slowest ever forecast.
Though global stock markets have stabilized and trade talks with the US have resumed after a two-month hiatus, China's economy faces trouble from several different sectors, Nomura Research Institute chief economist Richard Koo wrote in a Wednesday report.
A large part of China's economic prowess comes from its ability to provide cheaper labor than other industrial nations at a massive scale. A "triple threat of growth-attenuating factors" could eliminate the country's manufacturing advantage and move critical foreign investment elsewhere, Koo wrote.
Here are the three main threats Koo detailed, and how they could cripple China's economy.