Spanish Economist Daniel Lacalle, Member Of MEMRI Board Of Advisors, On China’s Economy: Growth in Retail, Industrial Production, and Fixed Investment – Despite Challenges in the Real Estate Sector – Indicate an Economy Stronger than It May Seem

On December 24, 2024, prominent Spanish economist Daniel Lacalle, who is a member of MEMRI's Board of Advisors, posted a video to his  YouTube channel in which he discussed China’s economy and what can be expected for it in 2025. He explained that China’s retail sales are growing almost at 5%, industrial production is growing 5%, and fixed investment is growing at 3.4%. He commented: “What we can see is that the Chinese economy is much stronger than it looks and certainly much better than what we can imagine relative to, for example, the European Union.” He also said that this growth is taking place in the midst of major challenges in China’s real estate sector, adding: “Once you have that challenge included in estimates, the fact that the economy is growing at around 3.5 to 5% is actually a pretty good number if we look at what is going on in the Euro area, which is atrocious.”