Visualizing China's latest economic support measures amid tariff tensions

As US and China trade representatives prepare to meet, we've visualized some of Beijing's recent initiatives to support the economy at a time of tariffs.

In April, China's Politburo gathered. The nation's top policymakers endorsed the accelerated issuance of special-purpose bonds; to support consumption, they also vowed to support workers most affected by US tariffs.

As our first charts show, increased government debt has figured prominently in China's policy mix lately. In the first quarter, the pace of central government bonds and local special-purpose bonds accelerated significantly, surpassing the volumes of previous years.

Subsequently, on May 7, the People’s Bank of China announced policies to "stabilize the market and expectations." These included an interest-rate cut and a liquidity injection. As our third chart shows, it's notable that market interest rates had remained relatively elevated this year.

The PBOC also launched a 500-billion-yuan "service consumption and elderly care" refinancing facility; this aims to support sectors from hospitality and entertainment to nursing homes.

To assess the vigor of services and other sectors, we can chart measures of tourism during the recently concluded Labor Day holiday, which took place May 1-5 this year. Comparing 2025 figures to previous holiday periods, we can see that both national tourist numbers and tourism revenue have exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

Finally, we assess recent international inflows into Chinese securities with exclusive fund-flow data from our partners at EPFR, and compare them to the exchange rate.

Our chart shows foreign capital has been flowing into China's bond market; this is likely a driving factor behind the appreciating renminbi, and could also reflect optimism about the outcome of the trade talks.