As it enters the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), the Chinese economy continues to grow fast by international standards. While growth is slowing gradually, GDP per capita remains on course to almost double between 2010 and 2020. As a result, the Chinese economy will remain the major driver of global growth for the foreseeable future. 

Economic growth is being supported by stimulus, but is set to edge down further to 6.1% by 2018. At the same time, risks are rising. The economy is undergoing transitions on several fronts. Private investment will be reinvigorated by the removal of entry restrictions in some service industries, but held back by adjustment in several heavy industries. Housing prices are again rising fast in the bigger cities, but working off housing inventories in smaller cities will take time. Consumption growth is set to hold up, especially as incomes rise and urbanisation continues. Reductions in excess capacity will ease downward pressure on producer prices but consumer price inflation will remain low. Import demand for goods will be damped by on-shoring, while services imports, in particular tourism, will grow rapidly. Exports will be held back by weak global demand and loss of competitiveness. 

Income inequality between China’s rural and urban areas has surged in recent years. The per capita income of urban households in 2012 was about three times that of the rural households, whereas in 1978 it was about two and half times higher.

2015 has been a challenging year for Africa. Average growth of African economies weakened in 2015 to 3.6%, down from an average annual 5% enjoyed since 2000.

China was among the near-200 countries to adopt the Paris Climate Change Agreement (Paris Agreement) at an historic UN conference in Paris, France on 12 December 2015. As an emerging economy and one of the world’s major emitters of greenhouse gases, how China implements the Paris Agreement will be important. We asked Dr Xuedu Lu of the Asian Development Bank for his views.

The People’s Republic of China joined the OECD Development Centre on 1 July, in a move described as an important step in support of China’s transformation and transition to a new growth model.

In October 2014 China launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), drawing wide international attention. Nearly 60 countries have joined the new international financial institution, including several OECD member and partner countries, though others have remained cautiously outside. What is the purpose of the new bank and what impact will it have? We asked Yide Qiao for his views. I guess there are several reasons for launching the new bank. 

China’s economy is the second largest in the world, but can its currency, renminbi, compete with the US dollar as a global currency?

Brazil is poised to become one of the world’s largest oil producers. But the elation caused by the discovery of two massive oil fields is tempered by access difficulties and high cost of extraction. Still, the discoveries have thrust Brazil centre stage in the global energy grab. 

As China’s economic importance on the world’s stage is growing, so is its space programme. Ten years after becoming the third country in the world to launch human beings into orbit, China successively undertook its fifth manned space mission in June, its longest yet. Three “taikonauts” (Chinese astronauts) spent two weeks in orbit in the Tiangong 1 space module.

Will China’s growth slowdown last and what does it mean for the rest of us?

The rise of IT and the Internet have been boons to Asia, but not everyone has benefited. There are challenges to overcome, not least in the area of governance.

Human capital spending is needed to reshape China’s growth engine. The action can start at an early age. 

Apprehensions about China’s unbalanced growth process concern everybody, but its causes are often misunderstood.
What can the Chinese leadership do to rebalance investment and consumption? 

There are signs of a new, more confident and self-affirming Africa taking shape. As the 2011 edition of the African Economic Outlook argues, this newness is also evident in the continent’s relationships with emerging economies.

The emergence of China and India on the world economy still unfolds. Lifestyles are evolving fast, and that means more demand, more energy consumption and more greenhouse gas emissions. But what of the impact on climate change?

When a blackout hit part of New York recently, some people blamed the air conditioning, as demand soared during a heat wave. Air conditioning has caught on around the world, which means year-round demand for energy beyond cold winters, and so bigger bills and environmental costs.

Although natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions or warm ocean currents, or even the earth’s tilt, might all contribute to global warming, carbon dioxide (CO₂) generated by human activity–from running homes and factories to flying planes and mowing lawns–is accepted as a major culprit.

Putting together a water financing and management strategy requires looking at a range of questions. The most important one is, can we afford it?