November saw the price of second-hand homes fall for the seventh consecutive month throughout China, with the pace of that decline being the fastest in over a year. Meanwhile, the economy further slowed, with factory output hitting a 15-month low and retail sales being the worst since the end of Covid. The overall situation is not looking rosy.
With November also seeing a huge trade surplus, there are also signs that Beijing is also getting concerned about the potential consequences of the impact the surplus is having on its trading partners. China’s leadership has announced measures to restrain steel exports, that have been one of the pain points of China’s trade partners for many years.
The leadership is no doubt concerned about these indications of imbalance and difficulties.