Chinese New Year: Policy in the Year of the Tiger

China’s Year of the Ox has, appropriately enough, been a year of fortitude and patience.The Government’s economic stimulus was put to work and it has worked. While economic growth dipped to 6.2% year on year in the first quarter of 2009, it had rebounded to 10.7% year on year by the final quarter. According to preliminary figures, growth for the full year was 8.7%. China overtook the US last year, to become the world’s largest market for cars, with estimated average sales of more than one million units a month. China’s Year of the Golden Tiger begins within hours of the West celebrat...