Long circulating in the media, overcapacity has become the hot-button issue in the PRC–West disaffection. US Commerce Secretary Janet Yellen’s early April 2024 visit to the PRC largely centred on it. Chancellor Scholz raised the issue directly with Xi Jinping on 16 April.
2021–23 saw PRC soybean production grow an eye-popping 25 percent. But low-quality grain found few buyers and imports, now 80 percent of domestic supply, were up again, this time over 11 percent to nearly 100 million tonnes. The PRC is now the world's biggest food importer and 60 percent of its imports are soybeans.
Air pollution across the PRC was worse in 2023 than it had been for a decade. Propping up an energy-intensive, sputtering economic recovery, surging coal consumption coupled with abnormal weather patterns triggered an uptick in smoggy days and PM2.5 concentrations.
Fiscal restructuring and tax reform are not just back on the agenda; they are also big on it. December 2023's, CEWC (Central Economic Work Conference) announced that it was considering a new round of reform. Details were sparse, yet the import was clear.