China Shock 2.0 The drivers and implications of growing global imbalances The China Shock 2.0 series Chief Economist's Note China Shock 2.0: Key Messages This note summarises the key conclusions from our recent series on China Shock 2.0. The ongoing shock is not simply a repeat of the original China shock of the 2000s. China is once again increasing... 13th October 2026 China Economics Focus How long can Chinese industry keep losing money? Overcapacity in China and the trade surplus that it feeds are sustained by policy choices made in Beijing. These policies hurt China’s banks, its fiscal position, economic productivity and household... 8th September 2026 · 22 mins read China Economics Focus China’s export gains go beyond strategic goods Concerns abroad about China’s surging exports have largely focused on “strategic sectors”. Less acknowledged is that China has been gaining significant global market share across the board, including... 10th September 2026 · 5 mins read Asia Economics Focus China Shock 2.0 is good news for ASEAN China’s export surge is strengthening rather than hollowing out South East Asian manufacturing. Cheaper inputs and Chinese investment should continue to lift the region’s exports and industrial... 15th September 2026 · 15 mins read Europe Economics Focus China Shock hitting euro-zone harder than most regions China Shock 2.0 will be a structural drag on euro-zone growth for the rest of this decade. Consumers will benefit from cheaper and increasingly sophisticated Chinese imports but manufacturers are... 16th September 2026 · 12 mins read Chief Economist's Note China Shock 2.0 will add to focus on economic resilience This report is part of our new series on China Shock 2.0. Explore the series and follow the latest publications on this dedicated page . A key difference between the first China Shock in the mid-2000s... 21st September 2026 Climate Economics Update Countering China Shock 2.0 will carry a climate cost China’s ability to produce and export green technologies at a low cost is a key driver of renewable and electric vehicle rollouts, including in the EU. As a result, efforts to now de-risk from China... 22nd September 2026 · 5 mins read US Economics Focus How might a US fiscal crisis play out? The ideal solution to the unsustainable fiscal situation is that Congress commits to a gradual fiscal adjustment. But as that seems unlikely, the big risk is that the Fed eventually finds itself in a... 23rd September 2026 · 23 mins read Global Economics Update How China’s export surge has influenced DM inflation China’s influence on headline inflation in advanced economies has been much smaller than is often assumed, given the dominant weight of services in consumer spending. But its surging exports have had... 24th September 2026 · 5 mins read Asset Allocation Update Poor returns from China’s assets are structural, not cyclical Despite China’s apparently robust economic growth over the past decade, the returns from its stock market have been poor and its bond yields are very low. We think the next decade will be similarly... 28th September 2026 · 4 mins read Global Economics Focus China Shock 2.0 may sow the seeds of the next crisis China’s soaring exports are widening global trade imbalances in ways that echo the run-up to the Global Financial Crisis. History suggests that at some point these must narrow. This could happen in... 29th September 2026 · 31 mins read US Economics Update Tariffs likely to far outlast Trump The precarious fiscal situation means the next administration will be in no rush to remove the tariffs that are in place at the end of President Trump’s term. Nonetheless, under most future scenarios... 5th October 2026 · 4 mins read FX Markets Focus How undervalued is the renminbi? Even though the renminbi is at its strongest level against the US dollar since 2022, in real trade-weighted terms it remains close to its weakest in more than a decade. In our assessment, it is... 6th October 2026 · 19 mins read Chief Economist's Note China Shock 2.0: Introducing our new series on the global economy China’s dominance of large swathes of global manufacturing will be one of the defining forces shaping the world economy over the coming decade. Over the next few weeks, Capital Economics will publish... 8th September 2026 Explore all of our China Shock 2.0 coverage Previous work on the origins of the shock Chief Economist's Note Another China shock, but with higher stakes and fewer answers They say sequels are rarely as compelling as the original. That is not the prevailing view in Brussels, where I spent last week and where discussion was dominated by "China Shock 2.0" – the prospect... 8th June 2026 China Economics Focus China’s export gains go beyond strategic goods China’s surging exports have been gaining international attention, but concerns about overcapacity have focussed on “strategic sectors”. Far less acknowledged is the fact that China has been gaining... 22nd January 2025 · 4 mins read China Economics Update The renminbi could not rebalance China on its own A significant appreciation of the renminbi would narrow China’s enormous trade surplus but it would also make the domestic deflation problem worse. This trade-off can only be addressed if a stronger... 30th July 2026 · 3 mins read Previous work on implications for other economies Global Economics Focus China’s rising trade surplus and its global implications China’s trade surplus has reached a record 1% of world GDP and looks set to rise further. It’s been driven, in part, by a surge in China’s exports – China has gained export market share across both... 30th April 2026 · 18 mins read Europe Economics Focus Assessing the China shock for the euro-zone The rise of China has brought both costs and benefits to the euro-zone over the past two decades, but policymakers are increasingly focusing on the costs. Indeed, euro-zone imports from China have... 23rd March 2026 (Updated 30th March 2026) · 16 mins read Japan Economics Focus The impact of the China shock on Japan’s economy Japan has weathered the China shock well so far, largely because the sharp weakening of the yen has kept Japanese exports competitive. However, the exchange rate is unlikely to keep weakening rapidly... 18th May 2026 · 17 mins read Global Economics Update The advanced economy impact of China’s deflation Deflation in China has added to disinflationary forces in advanced economies over the past few years, reducing the level of headline CPI by around 0.3-0.5% on average. Tariffs are likely to reverse... 15th October 2025 · 4 mins read Europe Economics Update Which sectors are suffering most from the China shock? The euro-zone has been one of the biggest losers from China eating up a larger share of the global export market. It has lost market share across a wide range of industries including vehicles... 11th May 2026 · 3 mins read
Chief Economist's Note China Shock 2.0: Key Messages This note summarises the key conclusions from our recent series on China Shock 2.0. The ongoing shock is not simply a repeat of the original China shock of the 2000s. China is once again increasing... 13th October 2026
China Economics Focus How long can Chinese industry keep losing money? Overcapacity in China and the trade surplus that it feeds are sustained by policy choices made in Beijing. These policies hurt China’s banks, its fiscal position, economic productivity and household... 8th September 2026 · 22 mins read
China Economics Focus China’s export gains go beyond strategic goods Concerns abroad about China’s surging exports have largely focused on “strategic sectors”. Less acknowledged is that China has been gaining significant global market share across the board, including... 10th September 2026 · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Focus China Shock 2.0 is good news for ASEAN China’s export surge is strengthening rather than hollowing out South East Asian manufacturing. Cheaper inputs and Chinese investment should continue to lift the region’s exports and industrial... 15th September 2026 · 15 mins read
Europe Economics Focus China Shock hitting euro-zone harder than most regions China Shock 2.0 will be a structural drag on euro-zone growth for the rest of this decade. Consumers will benefit from cheaper and increasingly sophisticated Chinese imports but manufacturers are... 16th September 2026 · 12 mins read
Chief Economist's Note China Shock 2.0 will add to focus on economic resilience This report is part of our new series on China Shock 2.0. Explore the series and follow the latest publications on this dedicated page . A key difference between the first China Shock in the mid-2000s... 21st September 2026
Climate Economics Update Countering China Shock 2.0 will carry a climate cost China’s ability to produce and export green technologies at a low cost is a key driver of renewable and electric vehicle rollouts, including in the EU. As a result, efforts to now de-risk from China... 22nd September 2026 · 5 mins read
US Economics Focus How might a US fiscal crisis play out? The ideal solution to the unsustainable fiscal situation is that Congress commits to a gradual fiscal adjustment. But as that seems unlikely, the big risk is that the Fed eventually finds itself in a... 23rd September 2026 · 23 mins read
Global Economics Update How China’s export surge has influenced DM inflation China’s influence on headline inflation in advanced economies has been much smaller than is often assumed, given the dominant weight of services in consumer spending. But its surging exports have had... 24th September 2026 · 5 mins read
Asset Allocation Update Poor returns from China’s assets are structural, not cyclical Despite China’s apparently robust economic growth over the past decade, the returns from its stock market have been poor and its bond yields are very low. We think the next decade will be similarly... 28th September 2026 · 4 mins read
Global Economics Focus China Shock 2.0 may sow the seeds of the next crisis China’s soaring exports are widening global trade imbalances in ways that echo the run-up to the Global Financial Crisis. History suggests that at some point these must narrow. This could happen in... 29th September 2026 · 31 mins read
US Economics Update Tariffs likely to far outlast Trump The precarious fiscal situation means the next administration will be in no rush to remove the tariffs that are in place at the end of President Trump’s term. Nonetheless, under most future scenarios... 5th October 2026 · 4 mins read
FX Markets Focus How undervalued is the renminbi? Even though the renminbi is at its strongest level against the US dollar since 2022, in real trade-weighted terms it remains close to its weakest in more than a decade. In our assessment, it is... 6th October 2026 · 19 mins read
Chief Economist's Note China Shock 2.0: Introducing our new series on the global economy China’s dominance of large swathes of global manufacturing will be one of the defining forces shaping the world economy over the coming decade. Over the next few weeks, Capital Economics will publish... 8th September 2026
Chief Economist's Note Another China shock, but with higher stakes and fewer answers They say sequels are rarely as compelling as the original. That is not the prevailing view in Brussels, where I spent last week and where discussion was dominated by "China Shock 2.0" – the prospect... 8th June 2026
China Economics Focus China’s export gains go beyond strategic goods China’s surging exports have been gaining international attention, but concerns about overcapacity have focussed on “strategic sectors”. Far less acknowledged is the fact that China has been gaining... 22nd January 2025 · 4 mins read
China Economics Update The renminbi could not rebalance China on its own A significant appreciation of the renminbi would narrow China’s enormous trade surplus but it would also make the domestic deflation problem worse. This trade-off can only be addressed if a stronger... 30th July 2026 · 3 mins read
Global Economics Focus China’s rising trade surplus and its global implications China’s trade surplus has reached a record 1% of world GDP and looks set to rise further. It’s been driven, in part, by a surge in China’s exports – China has gained export market share across both... 30th April 2026 · 18 mins read
Europe Economics Focus Assessing the China shock for the euro-zone The rise of China has brought both costs and benefits to the euro-zone over the past two decades, but policymakers are increasingly focusing on the costs. Indeed, euro-zone imports from China have... 23rd March 2026 (Updated 30th March 2026) · 16 mins read
Japan Economics Focus The impact of the China shock on Japan’s economy Japan has weathered the China shock well so far, largely because the sharp weakening of the yen has kept Japanese exports competitive. However, the exchange rate is unlikely to keep weakening rapidly... 18th May 2026 · 17 mins read
Global Economics Update The advanced economy impact of China’s deflation Deflation in China has added to disinflationary forces in advanced economies over the past few years, reducing the level of headline CPI by around 0.3-0.5% on average. Tariffs are likely to reverse... 15th October 2025 · 4 mins read
Europe Economics Update Which sectors are suffering most from the China shock? The euro-zone has been one of the biggest losers from China eating up a larger share of the global export market. It has lost market share across a wide range of industries including vehicles... 11th May 2026 · 3 mins read