Broken China
How the Economic Miracle Shattered and What it Means for the World
1. Edition July 2026
272 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Economic competition between the United States and China has been a defining issue of the twenty-first century. But after years of rapid growth, China's economy has faltered. How did its long-term economic outlook change so quickly? And can Beijing change course and preserve China's political ambition for global economic primacy?
In Broken China, Logan Wright offers an unflinching account of how China's economy hit the wall. Drawing on extensive experience analyzing the Chinese financial sector on the ground, he argues that China's economic slowdown is rooted in its financial system, and unprecedented credit expansion finally coming to an end. Opposing the prevailing myth that its leaders think and plan many years ahead, this book posits that there was no long-term plan that included the credit boom and bust that now constrains Beijing's options. Rather than crisis or collapse, Wright argues, China is suffering from a decay of its economic policy tools. As its domestic and foreign sectors face increasing pressure, the last thing Beijing needs is global pushback against Chinese exports.
With no clear path to recovery, China's economy is broken, the consequences of which will reverberate around the world.
1. The Promise of China's Economic Development
2. The Rise and Stall of China's Financial System
3. Policy Mistakes and Indecision
4. A Contested Story of China's Economic Future
5. What a Prolonged Economic Slowdown Means for China
6. A Broken Chinese Economy and the Rest of the World
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Notes
Index
Joerg Wuttke, Partner DGA group Albright Stonebridge and former President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China
"This is one of the sharpest analyses yet of how China's growth model ran out of road, and why Beijing's options for recovery are far more constrained than many assume... essential reading for anyone trying to understand China's future - and the global consequences of its economic stagnation."
Michael Beckley, Tufts University
"Broken China provides an in-depth, data-enriched financial system explanation for China's economic growth challenges. This book covers an impressive range and weaves compelling macroeconomic analysis with fascinating anecdotes."
Zongyuan Zoe Liu, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
"I have always considered Logan Wright to be among those who best understood China's monetary and financial system and who recognized early on the role of credit in supporting short-term Chinese growth even as it undermined its longer-term viability. In this book he explains very clearly the origins of China's financial system and the direction in which it is taking the economy."
Michael Pettis, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
"Logan Wright's Broken China provides an original, compelling, and provocative explanation of China's current economic malaise... one of the finest studies on the Chinese economy in recent years."
Minxin Pei, author of The Broken China Dream: How Reform Revived Totalitarianism