Lan Xiaohuan Urges Stronger Social Safety Net to Lift China Consumption as Trade Surplus Hits Record
Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Sep 7
Lan Xiaohuan Urges Stronger Social Safety Net to Lift China Consumption as Trade Surplus Hits Record
2 articles · Updated · South China Morning Post · Sep 7
Summary
Lan Xiaohuan said China needs a stronger social safety net to raise household consumption and better balance an economy still leaning heavily on exports and manufacturing.
The economist tied that imbalance to major structural shifts at home — especially the property downturn and the rapid rise of manufacturing and technology.
He argued the bigger changes are external, citing the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, Iran-related energy shocks and shifting US politics as forces reshaping China’s outlook.
Lan, whose book on China’s state-led development has sold millions of copies, said those changes are so broad they require “an entirely new book” rather than an added chapter.