Dan Watson, Contributing Writer
We have watched the Chinese conomy explode with annual GDP growth in the double
digit arena over the past two decades to
where China surpassed the U.S. in 2014
to become the largest world economy by
producing over $17.6 trillion in terms of
goods and services. Just 14 years earlier
the U.S. produced nearly three times as
much as the Chinese. At the end of the
day, China accounts for approximately
16.5% of the global economy versus the
U.S. with 16.3%. However, it is important to note that although China’s economy may be the world’s largest it’s still not
the richest. GDP per head is still less than
a quarter of U.S. levels.
Optimism about the Chinese econ-
omy came to an end following a stock
market sell off on August 24, 2015
(Black Monday) that saw the Shanghai
Composite fall 8.5% (its worst single day
performance since 2008). As illustrative
of the role China now plays in the global
economy, the U.S. Dow declined 1,000
pts., the Tokyo Nikkei-225 recorded its
biggest drop in more than two years, fall-
ing 4.6%, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down
more than 4.5%, the Stoxx Europe 600
index fell 5.3% and the German DAX
lost 5%. Overall, these declines stripped
tens of billions of dollars in value from
European companies
Following this dramatic negative occurrence, the Chinese economy continues
to struggle amid continuing uncertainty,
as labor unrest and lagging GDP growth
spread throughout the entire country. As
businesses, factories and financial services
It is difficult, if not impossible, to comment on the status of the Chinese coatings market
without first looking at the overall driving force, the Chinese Economy. The Chinese
coating market is in lockstep with the Chinese Economy.
The
Chinese Economy:
Impact on the
Chinese Coating Market
Figure 1
