Chinese Consumption Slows as Confidence Wanes

For months those who keep an eye on China (and the world economy, such is its reliance on China) have been told how domestic consumption is to act as a panacea of sorts as the country transitions from its previous model driven by exports and domestic consumption, yet it might be time to pump the brakes on that idea. At the end of September, the Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Indicator was the highest it had been since May 2014, with MNI Indicators Chief Economist Philip Uglow saying “Our cross-section of urban Chinese consumers seems oblivious to the tirade of negativity that surrounds China at the moment.” Yet the very next month, Chinese consumer sentiment dropped to the lowest recording since the indicator came into effect in 2007, and just like that Huw McKay, senior international economist at Westpac, was saying, “This result openly questions the resilience of the Chinese consumer to the discouraging state of the real economy.” That is quite the swing.                     Source: Westpac, Deutsche Borse Group Earlier this week, Reuters published an article detailing how China’s economic slowdown was hurting the global wine industry, just one of the many industries that was once looking to China for the explosive growth that was going to carry the sector […]