According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the economy grew by year on year in the first quarter of 2023.

While that hardly matches the robust growth of the pre-pandemic period, it did exceed market expectations. And with the right policies, China can do even better.

There is plenty of pessimism about China’s economic prospects nowadays, with many warning — not without reason — that China has entered a deflationary period. In the first quarter of 2023, China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by only — down from in the previous quarter. More striking, China’s producer price index (PPI) year on year in March — its .