The world has watched in awe for three decades as China emerged from obscurity to become the second largest economy in the world.
However, an economy that is so large and growing so quickly is inherently fragile.
The tiniest catalyst could trigger wars, bring down the government, or launch protectionist policies that could send shockwaves through the global economy.
We can think of at least 10 very realistic, destabilizing risks facing China right now.
Rare earths exports could stop.
China accounts for 97% of global rare earth production and is said to have 87% of the world's rare earth deposits. But in an attempt to curb pollution and protect its resources, the country began to slow exports of the minerals.
Critics have also argued that China made this move to draw manufacturing to the country, because the restrictions only extended to the rare earth minerals themselves, not products containing rare earths.
If China stopped rare earth exports this could impact companies around the world since they are used in everything from wind turbines to smartphones.
Inflation could surge.
China has set an inflation target of 3.5% and policymakers watch inflation closely. But consumer prices have been picking up again and policymakers would not want to see a surge in CPI for a few key reasons.
First, rising consumer prices without an accompanying rise in wages could cause civil unrest and policymakers would like to avoid this at all costs. Food prices make up a bigger part of the nation's inflation basket than in developed markets. Second, as the economy slows, a rise in consumer prices limits the ability of the central bank to loosen monetary policy and support growth.
Pollution could spin out of control.
We've seen photos of Chinese cities covered in smog. China has admitted that pollution has caused 'cancer villages.' Pollution, through illness, death, and loss of productivity costs the economy over $100 billion a year. China is set to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to lower pollution and is handing out the death penalty to the worst offenders.
But experts warn that health care costs stemming from pollution are understated and that this could push foreign companies and investors out of the country.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider