China’s Best-Laid Plans Hit Reality
The turmoil in the Middle East has already put Beijing’s forecasts for 2026 in doubt, while the latest Five Year Plan offers no fresh thinking on the country’s top challenges.

George Magnus is a research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre, and at the SOAS China Institute. He is a former chief economist at UBS and author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy (Yale University Press). His new book Peak China? The Battle for Global Economic Supremacy is due in early 2027, and his website…
George Magnus is a research associate at Oxford University’s China Centre, and at the SOAS China Institute. He is a former chief economist at UBS and author of Red Flags: Why Xi’s China is in Jeopardy (Yale University Press). His new book Peak China? The Battle for Global Economic Supremacy is due in early 2027, and his website is www.georgemagnus.com.