Analysis China’s foreign debt, including U.S. dollar debt, stood at $2.4 trillion at the end of 2020, a 4 percent increase from the previous quarter. The country’s corporate debt, combined with household debt, now exceeds 300 percent of GDP. The U.S.-China trade war, along with the pandemic lockdowns, have slowed the economy. The CCP hopes that increased internal demand will replace lost export revenues—but this is unlikely, given China’s high savings rate, high unemployment, and an aging population. China’s debt to GDP ratio appears to be growing at a rate of about 11 percent, which means that it will outpace GDP growth, even in the best of years. To mitigate economic stagnation, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been using state-owned banks to funnel credit to the private sector and increasing domestic consumption. Along with increased loans has been an increase in defaults. By the end of 2020, Chinese banks …