China, US, India ill-prepared for disruptions to global economy: new report

Bloomberg’s New Economy Drivers and Disrupters Report puts the Asian giant at 50th out of 114 economies in terms of preparedness to deal with disruptive forces such as climate change, populism and protectionism

New Zealand was most ready to handle these disrupters, while Sweden came top in terms of its track record in traditional drivers of growth

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Workers erect scaffolding at a construction site in Beijing in 2019. China came fourth in a new report’s measure comparing 114 economies across traditional growth drivers such as infrastructure building. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:22pm, 29 Oct 2019Updated: 11:07am, 30 Oct 2019

China’s “textbook model” for economic growth saw it become the world’s second-largest economy after opening up in the 1970s, but it is likely to struggle to maintain that pace of growth as it is ill-prepared to deal with major disruptions to the global economy, a new Bloomberg report has said.

The New Economy Drivers and Disrupters Report, released on Tuesday, puts the Asian behemoth at 50th place out of 114 economies evaluated in terms of their preparedness to deal with five “disruptive forces”: climate change, populism, protectionism, automation and digitisation.

Unlike traditional indexes, the report featured two sets of rankings – the first measuring an economy’s track record in traditional drivers of growth, and the second for its ability to deal with the five areas of disruption.

While economic giants such as India and China were identified as possible laggards in dealing with disruption, the likes of fast-rising Vietnam and the ultra-wired entrepot of Singapore could be among the handful of Asian players to thrive amid cataclysmic changes to the world economy, the report’s authors said.

China came fourth in the measure comparing the 114 economies across traditional growth drivers such as infrastructure building and investment in research and development.