If the long-running skirmishes between the US and China were to escalate into a trade war, China would try to occupy the moral high ground by portraying itself as a defender of free trade. At the time...

The new US tariffs on imports of solar panels and washing machines may be aimed at China but look more like a continuation of the skirmishing of recent years than the first salvos of a trade war.

Capital outflows from China rose slightly in December as Chinese households and firms added to their foreign asset holdings. Looking at the year as a whole, capital outflows fell by 80% in 2017.

The detailed breakdown of China’s Q4 GDP data released today claims that stronger services activity, particularly in IT, fully offset a slowdown in construction and industry. While we don’t doubt that...