Going for Growth 2021 – China

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted weaknesses in the health and social security systems and pushed many households and firms to the brink of bankruptcy. It further widened inequalities between: central provinces that have been hardest hit and the coast; poorer households that had already been indebted and wealthier households and the private sector, which has limited access to infrastructure contracts and is hard hit by slackened demand and the state-owned sector. Such divides will need to be addressed to make growth inclusive and sustainable.