Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: Chinese exports make their biggest monthly jump in 16 years, the Chinese Communist Party prepares for an important political meeting, and the former White House press secretary’s law career in China draws scrutiny. 

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s China Brief.

The highlights this week: Chinese exports make their biggest monthly jump in 16 years, the Chinese Communist Party prepares for an important political meeting, and the former White House press secretary’s law career in China draws scrutiny. 

China’s exports grew by an astonishing 36.3 percent year-over-year in September, their biggest monthly jump since July 2010, thanks to the artificial intelligence industry and the easing of trade tensions with the United States.

It’s only one month, but it fits a pattern of soaring exports since the COVID-19 pandemic that cemented China’s place as the world’s factory. Exports will likely exceed $4 trillion this year. Unlike the manufacturing boom of the 2000s, this one is increasingly concentrated in high-end sectors such as electric vehicles, smartphones, and power grid management.

The paradox is that this success is partly thanks to a domestic economy still staggering from the twin blows of the pandemic and the ensuing real estate crisis. The latter has devastated household finances, while the former made people even more nervous about spending, especially given how little public support most households received during that time.

Those weaknesses fueled the manufacturing surge in several ways. Deflation at home, especially at the factory gate, made Chinese products more........

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