News Analysis China’s economy has had a rough summer, hit first by a rise in COVID-19 infections, then by the impending bankruptcy of the giant real estate developer Evergrande, and now by severe power shortages throughout the country. The coming months might bring relief on the COVID-19 front, but though the authorities are scrambling, the other two problems will linger and are more likely to get worse before they get better. Most statistics—official and unofficial—testify to these economic difficulties. Beijing’s monthly index of manufacturing activity sank in September to 49.6 from a reading of 50.1 in August. Any figure below 50 indicates a contraction. Perhaps even more telling than the falling aggregate, every major subcategory of the survey—production, total new orders, export orders, and hiring—all showed declines. The figures are the lowest they have been since February 2020. A private survey, the Caixin Index, was slightly less depressing, showing the …