China doesn’t do surprises — so when it does, pay attention. At this week’s National People’s Congress, the world’s second-largest economy set a 4.5–5% growth target, falling below 5% for the first time in over three decades. For a country that has rarely wavered, this downgrade is a rare acknowledgment of a structural slowdown.

• JD.comJD
  , a bellwether for Chinese consumer health, posted its first quarterly loss in nearly four years — a ¥2.7B ($391.4M) deficit on weak spending.
• But the damage runs deeper than one company — spending on big-ticket items like appliances cratered 18% in Q4.

Beijing’s gambit: With Trump’s trade war adding pressure to an already fragile economy, China’s response is to double down on manufacturing dominance. Its new five-year plan targets rare earths, robotics, and advanced chips, but economists warn this doesn’t tackle the root cause: consumers squeezed by stagnant wages. Meanwhile, China’s rare earth market share is projected to slip from 90% to 69% by 2030 as rivals catch up. It’s a bold plan, but you can’t export your way out of a domestic spending problem.