China's economy 2025: a tale of two takes

As 2025 draws to a close, the National Bureau of Statistics of China has released economic data for the month of November, with indices pointing to a sustained "steady development momentum with progress". But a recent Wall Street Journal analysis, based largely on the same official data, argues that China's growth momentum has weakened across the board, that consumer demand is faltering, and exports are now doing most of the heavy lifting for the world's second-largest economy. Which story is closer to reality? Is China's economy stabilizing, or as some Western media outlets claim, quietly losing steam?