China Unravels - Joe Blogs

In today’s video, we explore why China’s export model — and its wider economy — now appears to be unravelling, as multiple problems all hit at the same time.

The biggest shock came in November, when China’s exports to the United States collapsed by almost 30% following the latest round of American tariffs. This is one of the sharpest declines on record, and it removes China’s most profitable and strategically important customer almost overnight.

To keep its factories running, China has been pushing huge volumes of goods into Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Overall export numbers look positive, but only because China is flooding global markets with ultra-cheap products that can no longer be sold in America.

We break down the broad percentages of where these exports are now going — including the EU’s rapidly growing share — and look at why Europe has suddenly become China’s most important high-income market. But that shift is already creating a political storm, with European leaders warning that their industries are being undermined by a surge of low-price Chinese imports.

At the same time, China’s producer prices have been falling for almost three years, squeezing profits and forcing manufacturers to cut prices just to keep goods moving. Sales may be rising, but profits are falling sharply — a key sign of industrial stress.

We also examine China’s weak domestic demand, the ongoing property crisis, and the deeper structural issues that mean China can no longer rely on its home market to absorb production. That leaves China dangerously exposed if Europe follows the U.S. in imposing new tariffs.

All of these pressures together show why China is unravelling, and why the consequences could be significant not just for China, but for the entire global economy.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:58 EXPORTS
4:20 PRODUCER PRICES
6:14 IMPORTS
7:29 RETAIL SALES
8:05 INFLATION
9:55 SUMMARY & CONCLUSION