China is the Goldman Sachs of economies. Prick it, and it will duly release a token amount of blood while peers are haemorrhaging copiously. And the bounce back will be swift: hence China's gross domestic product increased 7.9 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, according to official data released on Thursday.
Investors love a winner and, although not back at pre-Lehman levels, China's domestic market capitalisation has leapfrogged Japan to become the world's second biggest. At current growth rates, and based on market prices, it will likewise trump Japan on gross domestic product in 2011.
No wonder. Beijing has pressed every button at its disposal – which in a state-controlled economy is basically all of them – to plug the shortfall caused by falling exports. The economic model has shifted, but mainly into government hands. Domestic consumption, as measured by the imperfect retail sales data, is strengthening. Yet much of this is propped up by stimulus measures, as demonstrated by surging auto sales.