China may soon become a high-income country
Has it truly escaped the middle-income trap?
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/sites/default/files/images/2022/02/articles/main/20220205_fnd000.jpg)
CHINA IS HAUNTED by the spectre of the “middle-income trap”, the notion that emerging economies grow quickly out of poverty only to get stuck before they get rich. “During the next five years, we must take particular care to avoid falling into the middle-income trap,” said Li Keqiang, China’s prime minister, in 2016. Lou Jiwei, then China’s finance minister, once put the odds of China becoming ensnared at 50%.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The high kingdom”
Finance & economics February 5th 2022
- Why the impressive pace of investment growth looks likely to endure
- America prepares the “mother of all sanctions” against Russia
- OPEC grapples with a precariously balanced oil market
- The global interest bill is about to jump
- Why India’s stockmarket is roaring
- Why stockmarket jitters have not so far spread to the credit market
- China may soon become a high-income country
More from Finance & economics
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240914_FNP501.jpg)
Can anything spark Europe’s economy back to life?
Mario Draghi, the continent’s unofficial chief technocrat, has a plan
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_FND003.jpg)
Has social media broken the stockmarket?
That is the contention of Cliff Asness, one of the great quant investors
![](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240907_FNP504.jpg)
American office delinquencies are shooting up
How worried should investors be?
China is suffering from a crisis of confidence
Can anything perk up its economy?
America has a huge deficit. Which candidate would make it worse?
Enough policies have been proposed to make a call
Why Oasis fans should welcome price-gouging
There are worse things in life than paying a fair price