In Depth: Has China’s Monetary Policy Reached Its Limit?

China’s companies and households are shrugging off the central bank’s efforts to get them to borrow and spend more amid a crisis of confidence in the economy fueled by slowing growth and the impact of stringent Covid-19 controls.

The lack of appetite for debt is complicating the government’s efforts to kick-start stalled growth in an economy battered by the effects of the “zero-Covid” policy, a property slump, an investment funk, along with growing financial distress among companies and local governments.