China’s Economic Outlook: Pep Talks Up Top, Gloom on the Ground
Beijing dismisses Western critics' concerns about an economic slowdown as exaggerated, despite widespread anxiety and pessimism suggesting otherwise.
For the inhabitants and business proprietors of Chedun, a blue-collar district in the southwestern periphery of Shanghai, the indications of a sluggish economy are omnipresent. The manufacturing plants that once attracted laborers from across the nation have relocated. The ones that are still operational have cut salaries. In the vicinity of the budget-friendly diners and assorted stores where laborers used to gather, staff members eagerly approach any passerby.
"Nobody has cash now, it's clear," stated Cherry Qian, 25, while sitting inside the electronics shop she oversees, which had only one patron on Sunday afternoon.
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