China Slide Is Serious: Ex-Property Tycoon

China's economic conditions are worse than thought, Desmond Shum told The New York Times.

Photo Insert: For Shum, conditions are also making China’s brass insecure, resulting in tighter control of business, especially among foreign firms.

Even basic products won't sell, as consumer prices near deflation. This will result in tighter control of the firms by Beijing, as it become less secure.

Conditions in the Chinese economy are worse than the world thinks, the self-exiled property entrepreneur told The New York Times.

Desmond Shum — once at the head of a multibillion-dollar property firm that he left in 2015 upon tighter control by Beijing — said sales across industries, even those thought to be insulated from any slowdown, are falling, and the economic outlook among Chinese consumers is so dire that executives are reporting blatant acts of theft by employees.

For Shum, conditions are also making China’s brass insecure, resulting in tighter control of business, especially among foreign firms, Filip De Mott also reported for Business Insider.

Companies with Western ties are vulnerable to raids, while foreign entities face new data restrictions.

This has led to withdrawal of international firms from China, which can shift the current trade regime away from the country. "People talk about 'deglobalization,' but the proper term is 'reglobalization minus China,'" Shum said.

"You won't have one country replacing China, but operations are spreading to Vietnam, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and elsewhere."

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