In an editorial under the title “It is not that storms bypass China, but that we have built a steady shield,” Global Times explicates China’s sane and human-oriented economic policies to explain why it is not suffering the economic and political collapse spreading across the trans-Atlantic western world. After describing the mass demonstrations, riots, and economic disasters in a growing number of western nations, it writes, “On the other side, China presents a vastly different picture over the same period. Nationwide cross-regional trips reached 2.144 billion over the seven day National Day holiday, bringing the combined figure for the Mid Autumn and National Day holidays close to 2.8 billion as people traveled across the country. In September, China’s consumer price index (CPI) rose by just 0.9 percent year on year, while food prices actually fell by 1.7 percent.”

This is not because the implications and impact of the wars and the financial chaos in the West do not affect China, they note, but that the Chinese economy is designed to protect the population when such storms hit.

“Ample, diversified stockpiles form the first ‘flood retention zone’ that stabilizes prices, preventing violent swings in international markets from spilling over into households’ grocery baskets and store shelves,”wrote Global Times. “As the world’s largest crude oil importer, China’s crude imports tumbled to roughly 8.1 million barrels per day in the second quarter. Imports fell below 8 million barrels per day in May and June, hitting the lowest level since 2016. Even so, there was no shortage of refined oil supply domestically. Industry estimates that China’s strategic petroleum reserves are ample.”