Chinese depression deepens

Monday 2 February 2026

The unsung depression in the Chinese economy continues.

It is supposed to be enjoying a manufacturing boom, yet the manufacturing PMI has averaged a decline of 49.7% after the COVID reopening, contracting 27 out of 36 months.

Celebrated exports have done far worse.

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About the author

David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.