Where Beijing once celebrated its manufacturing and export prowess, it now openly discusses the need to curb “involution”. This is a dramatic departure from its previous stance, says Enodo Economics’ Diana Choyleva.
LONDON: For years, Beijing dismissed Western concerns about Chinese overcapacity as protectionist rhetoric. When the United States and European Union complained about cheap Chinese exports flooding global markets, China’s response was predictable: These were simply competitive advantages in a free market economy.
That narrative has now fundamentally shifted. In a remarkable policy U-turn, China has not only started acknowledging the overcapacity problem but is treating it as a national priority that requires urgent intervention.
While there have been signs of this narrative change for a while, the clearest signal of this messaging transformation came through recently on China’s own policy channels.
In July, the Communist Party’s leading journal Qiushi warned that “disorderly competition has destroyed entire industry ecology”. This wasn’t diplomatic language about market dynamics – it was an admission that destructive competition had reached crisis proportions.
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Trước một siêu thị điện máy Nguyễn Kim. Ảnh: Quang Định
