Despite expectations that the Chinese economy would surge after strict COVID-era lockdowns were lifted, the country is instead stuck in a downward economic cycle, or a case of “economic long COVID,” writes Adam Posen in a new essay for Foreign Affairs. “Like a patient suffering from that chronic condition, China’s body economic has not regained its vitality and remains sluggish.”

Fueling the country’s economic stagnation, Posen writes, is the Chinese government’s increasingly arbitrary meddling in the economy, which has left many across China fearful of losing their property or livelihood. But Beijing’s conundrum presents an opportunity for U.S. policymakers, he writes: “Instead of trying to contain China’s growth at great cost to their own economy, American leaders can let Xi do their work for them and position their country as a better alternative—and as a welcoming destination for Chinese economic assets of all kinds.”

Read more on China’s economic slowdown and what it means for the United States’ China policy:

“Xi’s Plan for China’s Economy Is Doomed to Fail” by Zongyuan Zoe Liu and Benn Steil

“China’s Consumption Conundrum” by Damien Ma and Houze Song

“How to Spot an Autocrat’s Economic Lies” by Luis R. Martínez

“The Case for a Hard Break With China” by Oren Cass and Gabriela Rodriguez

“How to Stop Chinese Coercion” by Victor Cha

“The U.S.-Chinese Economic Relationship Is Changing—But Not Vanishing” by Jami Miscik, Peter Orszag, and Theodore Bunzel