China Is Growing Old Before It Gets Rich: Economist

News Snapshot:

Though China's policymakers have portrayed economic growth prospects as sunny, a Chinese demographer warns that the country is unlikely to escape the middle-income trap. China must institute sweeping reforms to overcome the gap between its economy and that of the United States, all while battling a rapidly aging labor force, stagnating manufacturing sector, plummeting fertility rate, and local government crises, University of Wisconsin-Madison senior scientist Yi Fuxian warns. Earlier this month, Chinese policymakers again set an annual economic growth target of 5 percent after announcing the country's gross domestic product exceeded 5.2 percent last year, a figure some economists have...