BHP executive criticises Xi, predicts China’s decline

BHP’s top economist says Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ideological grip over state-owned enterprises risks damaging the Asian superpower and could exacerbate its decline in the second half of this century.

BHP vice president Huw McKay blames ideologically driven leaders for botching China’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic last year, criticises the role of state-owned enterprises, or SOEs, and questions whether Chinese science can catch up to the West because it suffers from “invasive state oversight” and may be corrupted by extensive fraud.