Part 1/13:

China Update: A Deep Dive into the Nation’s Current Economic, Technological, and Strategic Landscape

An Unsettling Start to 2026: Weak Consumer Spending and Domestic Demand Challenges

China kicked off 2026 with some of the poorest consumer performance recorded outside of pandemic disruptions. Retail sales for January and February are projected to have grown merely 2.1% year-on-year, a figure that, if confirmed by official data, marks the slowest start since record-keeping began in 2000, excluding the early pandemic period in 2020.