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Hello and welcome to Chinese Whispers with me, Cindy Yu.

Every episode, I'll be talking to journalists, experts,

and long-time China watches about the latest in Chinese politics, society and more.

There'll be a smattering of history to catch you up on the background knowledge and some

context as well. How did the Chinese see these issues? At the end of last year, some thought

that the Chinese economic recovery after three years

of zero COVID could happen just as fast as zero COVID itself ended.

I admit that included me.

And yet, more than halfway into 2023, that recovery looks increasingly elusive.

The Chinese economy has failed to shake off its own long COVID, while other

structural problems have reared their heads. What does the future hold for the economy? Is this the new

normal? And if so, is that a problem? Or is there a different way forward for China? I'm joined on

this episode by the economist Kewu Jing, author of the New China Playbook, Beyond Socialism and Capitalism.

Kew is an associate professor at the London School of Economics and has advised and consulted for the World Bank and the IMF.

She has also divided opinion. Unlike some other English language economists, she is sympathetic to the Chinese political and economic structure,

arguing, as you're here in this episode, that Chinese state intervention can often be virtuous,

that the Chinese people value stability over liberty. On the episode, I challenged these views,

and you might find yourself disagreeing with some of them too. But whatever you might think of a political distance,

and it's interesting to hear why an economist, educated in the West,

might have such a different perspective.

First, I started by asking her to carry out a stock take of the Chinese economy.

...