At the start of 2025, many Western headlines were ready to write China off.
Slower growth.
An aging population.
A manufacturing edge "in decline."
By year's end, that narrative no longer held.
Bloomberg put it bluntly in its year-end reflection:
"Repeat after me: Never, ever underestimate China."
So what did foreign media get wrong -- and what did they start seeing instead?
Produced by Xinhua Global Service■
