China's economic problems a ticking time bomb: Joe Biden

United States President Joe Biden has cautioned that China’s troubles with high unemployment and an ageing workforce make the country a “ticking time bomb” at the heart of the global economy and a potential threat to other countries.

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“When bad folks have problems, they do bad things,” the president told a group of donors at a fund-raiser in Park City, Utah on Thursday.

Data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed the economy grew 4.5 percent in the first quarter and 6.3 percent in the second, while GDP went up just 0.8 percent in April-June from the previous. Biden’s remarks were reminiscent of comments he made at another fundraiser in June when he referred to President Xi Jinping as a “dictator.” On Wednesday, Biden signed an executive order that will prohibit some new US investment in China in sensitive technologies like computer chips. China said it was “gravely concerned” about the order and reserved the right to take measures.

Once seemingly “inexhaustible” engine, which propelled Beijing is now sputtering, posing alarming risks for Chinese households as well as economies globally.