Is China's 40-Year Boom Coming To An End?

China: Is China's economic miracle coming to an end? It sure looks that  way. Recent data and startling demographic changes portend much slower economic growth down the not-so-silken road to the future. Can China reverse the slide? Maybe not.

A number of data-alarms have gone off for China's economy recently. Among them:

Long-time China watchers note that the Middle Kingdom's economy appears to have slowed dramatically in recent years after decades of officially reported 10% per year GDP growth. Recently, China reported 2018 GDP growth of 6.6%, down from 6.9% in 2017 and its slowest pace since 1990.

China's Shanghai stock index fell by nearly a third last year.

China's exports, the long-time engine of its economy, plunged 4.4% in December. It was the biggest decline in two years. Nevertheless, China' trade deficit with the U.S. hit a record, a major sticking point in trade talks with President Trump's negotiators.