Cracks spread in China's fragile economy

China's annual economic growth is forecast to dip below 6% in the final quarter of this year and continue to fall into 2020 thanks to weaker exports and tighter domestic credit.

Chinese Lantern Festival in Vietnam © Alamy

Vietnam is likely to be a major growth story over the next decade
(Image credit: Chinese Lantern Festival in Vietnam © Alamy)

The passage through Congress of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, which aligns the US with Hong Kong's protesters, marks a "watershed moment in the escalating cold war" between Washington and Beijing, says Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for The Daily Telegraph. Yet, for all the "ritualistic" diplomatic protests, it probably won't stop the two sides agreeing to a phase-one trade deal.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.