Big Take How China Defied the Odds in 2025
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Dec 30, 2025 
In this engaging discussion, John Liu, Bloomberg's executive editor for Greater China, and Shuli Ren, an insightful columnist on China markets, dive deep into China’s surprising rebound in 2025. They analyze the initial economic struggles, including deflation and a property crisis, before exploring the transformative impact of innovative AI breakthroughs. The duo also examines how political dynamics with the U.S. influenced trade and investment sentiment, while cautioning about ongoing risks such as high youth unemployment and geopolitical tensions.
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From Doomed To Resurgent In One Year
- China entered 2025 with deflation, a property crisis and weak consumer spending weighing on sentiment. By year-end, breakthroughs and exports flipped the narrative despite domestic weakness.
AI Breakthrough Rewrote Tech Perceptions
- DeepSeq's surprise AI breakthrough forced global markets to reassess China's tech capabilities. The result revitalized Chinese tech stocks and investor confidence domestically.
Education Fueled China's AI Talent Base
- Long-term investment in higher education and engineering cultivated a deep talent pool for AI. China now produces a disproportionate share of top AI researchers versus the U.S.