A desaceleração da economia da China e a transição para um “novo normal” no século 21

China has been undergoing profound economic transformations since the late 1970s. High rates of economic growth transformed China from a poor and agricultural country into an industrialized middle-income economy in the early 21st century. With the outbreak of the 2008 global crisis, China’s economy has entered a new phase of relative deceleration and transition to a “new normal” — economic growth rates around 6%. The main objective of the article is to examine the factors that explain the slowdown of China’s economy after the global economic crisis of 2008. The results show that the slowdown of China’s economy to a “new normal” is an expected phenomenon and reflects structural dynamics of a country that has reached middle income after three decades of high rates of economic growth. At the same time, the deepening of macroeconomic imbalances and the loss of economic efficiency show the exhaustion of economic policies adopted since the outbreak of the 2008 global crisis.