By Jennifer Chang        Photo：Sven Wittrock

Every year the World Bank publishes the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the global economy for that year. Global GDP ranking 2022 has been announced!  The United States and China are the number one and number two economies in the world. Taiwan is ranked 21st in the world in 2022, continuing its progress toward the top 20 economies in the world, while the Four Little Dragons of Asia rank South Korea 13th, Singapore 37th, and Hong Kong 43rd. The U.S. and Chinese economies have experienced stagflation and stage-like inflation over the past year, which has affected the entire world. Economic stagflation" refers to stagnant inflation, which is generally a combination of economic stagnation, high inflation, high unemployment, declining production, and even bankruptcy. What is happening in China is stagflation-like, and it happened in China as early as 2021. What is stage-like inflation? According to the e think tank based in China, "stage-like inflation" refers to a slowdown in economic growth that is still relatively high and positive, with a manageable but not severe inflation. This description basically fits the state of the Chinese economy. So the Chinese are more tolerant than Americans, who are used to a good life.

Weakening international demand for goods from China has led to increased cancellations of voyages at several of the largest ports in China, which has weakened the market's original expectation that the cancellation of the  zero-covid policy in China will bring economic benefits. Although it is common for the carrier to cancel voyages during the Lunar New Year, the cancellation rate was particularly high this year, mainly due to reduced demand for land cargo from Western countries and increased pressure on the supply chain due to labor shortages and factory shutdowns caused by the rising epidemic in China. The Chinese New Year factory shutdown in China always reduces the demand for air cargo in the first few months of the year. In addition, the full lifting of Covid restrictions in China has increased international travel, thus increasing air capacity. 45-50% of the world's air cargo is typically transported in the bellies of passenger aircraft. The more international passenger flights departing from China, the lower the rates will be as capacity increases. While air freight has fluctuated, ocean freight has fallen in recent months as competition has weakened. This is in response to the decline in demand due to the global trade downturn. The sea freight market has stabilized after COVID, despite  longer transit time, the rates have dropped significantly, making it a economical choice once again

According to the World Bank's forecast, the U.S. economy will grow by 0.5% this year, the Eurozone will have zero growth, China will rise to 4.3% against the trend, and the most bullish is India, which is expected to grow by more than 6%, while Japan will maintain 1%. Experts analyze that although India's economic development is quite favored by the outside world, but its total GDP is still too far from China and the United States, and if  China maintain an economic growth rate of more than 4%, it will  become the leader, so that the whole of Asia are benefited. With the recent weakness of the US dollar and inflation not easily resolved in the near term, the US economy appears to be heading into recession. When the U.S. and China catch a cold, the whole world sneezes, which has a great impact on the world.

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