Even as China floods the world’s markets with electronics, electric cars, and other high-tech goods, its own domestic demand for most products remains stubbornly weak. Retail sales are low. Oversupply ...

But the supercharged competition driving that trend is causing problems within China itself, including deflation and thin or negative profit margins. China’s government has recognised the problem, but ...

In economic policy documents, Beijing’s leadership used the term “involution”, neijuan in Chinese, in efforts to combat excessive competition in market segments such as photovoltaics and lithium ...

The term “involution”, meaning curling inward, became common slang in China in the 2020s to reflect excessive competition in social and economic life, where students, workers and even business leaders ...

The following censorship instructions, issued to the media and internet companies by government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. The name of the issuing body has been omitted to ...