The end of the summer in Beijing has brought with it a hardening of views on the trade dispute with the US. Increasingly, tariffs are being seen not as negotiating ploys to win run-of-the-mill concessions from China but as elements of a containment strategy that China cannot afford to give ground to. The high profile that this bleaker assessment is receiving makes it less likely that China’s leadership will seek compromise. Meanwhile, on the domestic front, fiscal policy is now where most of the new policy support is coming from, but efforts to boost spending are not going entirely smoothly. And a possible end to all restrictions on family size is being discussed again – but would this make any difference?
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