Is China the next Japan?

• Position: OFF THE NEWS - Brief article

1. DEBT RATIO

   "The ratio of debt to GDP was 157 percent at the end of 2007,250 percent at the end of 2013, and 290 percent at the end of the second quarter of 2015."

   --Martin Wolf, Financial Times

2. DEBT SERVICING

   China has the world's highest private debt levels, higher than Japan's levels. China also has the highest debt service burden as a proportion of GDP. The costs of servicing Chinese private debts amount to roughly 20 percent of GDP. As late as 2009, that figure was 12 percent.

   --Bank for International Settlements

3. RESERVE BLUES

   "[China's] reserves are down by almost $700 billion from their peak, thanks to capital flight and sinking asset values. Determined money has long seeped out of China's stockade; signs of a bigger leak emerged in the latter half of 2015. In December alone reserves fell by more than $100 billion. Capital slipped abroad at an annualized pace of $1 trillion in the second half of 2015."

   --The Economist

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