Finance & economics | Life after digging

After a good run of growth, China’s economy braces for bumps

A trade war with America and the battle against debt at home cloud the horizon

|WUHAN

JUST a few years ago Wuhan, a sprawling metropolis in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, exemplified China’s economic woes. Municipal debt had soared. The most senior local official was known as “Mr Dig Up The City”, a reference to his zeal for grandiose construction projects. A movie theme park, intended as a landmark, closed after failing to draw crowds. It would take nearly a decade, it was estimated, to sell all of Wuhan’s vacant homes.

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Life after digging”

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