By Tanner Brown
Worries emerge that an economic rebound will be a one-off, as pent-up consumer demand spikes following the lifting of the long-running zero-COVID policy
Investor sentiment in China has been on an upswing, with markets experiencing a double-digit bull run when officials announced the end of harsh COVID-containment measures in November. But observers immediately began asking: How sustainable is the rebound?
The flood of economic data released this week in Beijing — showing, for example, an official annual economic growth rate of just 3% and an exceedingly rare population dip in the planet’s most populous country, for example — added urgency to that question.
As the new year dawned, a number of positive moves had put wind in the sails of mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stock indexes, which have been awaiting good news after one of their worst years on record.
First, Beijing scrapped domestic…
