China’s “excess capacity” debate is really a fight over the rules of global trade

The renewed debate over China’s so-called excess capacity is about far more than industrial overproduction. It is, in essence, a contest over who gets to define fairness in a global economy that is increasingly shaped by geopolitics, protectionism and anxiety about shifting power. Beijing’s latest position paper on the issue argues that accusations against China are distorted, selective and often driven by political motives rather than economic logic. Whether one fully accepts that argument or not, the document exposes a deeper and more uncomfortable truth: the industrial order that once produced global growth is now under strain, and the la…