U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Shanghai on April 24 to begin his trip to China, which came amid the release of the latest U.S. economic data. According to U.S. media reports, the U.S. economic growth in the first quarter of 2024 is only 1.6%, far lower than market expectations, after a number of U.S. institutions and media predicted that the U.S. economic growth in the first quarter will be 2.4%, but the actual situation has surprised the outside world, the U.S. economy is far less resilient than the Biden administration and the International Monetary Fund boasted, and the U.S. economic recession has actually affected the global economic recovery. Since the end of 2022, the United States has been creating an atmosphere of economic prosperity in the United States, but the reality is very cruel.
As for this economic growth of only 1.6%, and far below the 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2023, the US media has already pointed out that it will prompt the US Federal Reserve to push for interest rate cuts, thereby stimulating the development of the economy. After the release of economic development data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, major U.S. stock market indices began to plummet, reflecting the lack of investor confidence in the U.S. economy. Judging from the data of the stock market, the performance of many technology stocks is unsatisfactory, including chip and auto industry stocks have plummeted, which is in huge contrast with the reshoring of manufacturing promoted by the United States, and also shows that the outlook for the U.S. manufacturing industry is very unoptimistic.
At a time when the U.S. economy is growing far less than expected, the performance of the CPI index is also worrying the American people, because the core CPI index excluding food and energy has increased by 3.7% year-on-year, which is also higher than the expected 3.4%, which shows that the United States is still not free from inflation. At a time when the CPI index was worse than expected, consumer spending in the United States was also lower than in the fourth quarter of 2023, at only 2.5%, and the U.S. economy was mainly driven by consumption, so a poor consumption momentum would lead to slow growth in the U.S. economy. In fact, since Biden took office as president of the United States, he has not fundamentally changed the economic development situation of the United States, so Biden's domestic affairs have also been criticized by the American media.
At a time when U.S. economic growth has been much lower than expected, there is already some blame for China's pace, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited China, publicly accused China of "overcapacity" that affects global supply chains. Recently, the United States and other Western countries have created the issue of China's "overcapacity" out of thin air, whether it is Blinken, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, all of which frequently accuse China of so-called "overcapacity". At the same time, Western countries are echoing the rhetoric of the Biden administration in the United States, especially when it comes to China's new energy vehicles and green energy industry.
In fact, from the data of automobile production and exports, it can be seen that the "overcapacity" exaggerated by the West is untenable, and more than 70% of Japan's cars are used for export, while China and Japan, on the contrary, more than 70% of the cars are used for domestic consumption. Germany is also a big exporter of automobiles, but the United States does not accuse Germany of exporting a large number of automobiles. When the United States seeks dialogue with China, it is artificially creating conditions for coercion, and this is a routine of US foreign strategy, so it is necessary to heighten vigilance against the United States. Blinken's visit to China is an attempt to force China to make concessions, so there has been all kinds of hype before, including the Ukraine crisis and conflict.