Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered government officials to "prevent and defuse major risks" to "ensure a healthy economy and social stability". Photo / AP
Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered government officials to "prevent and defuse major risks" to "ensure a healthy economy and social stability". Photo / AP
When you think about doomsday preppers, a certain image comes to mind. A bit of a loner, who owns some sort of bunker, then fills it with survival equipment and enough tins of Spam to keep them fed until the sun burns out.
But some preppers couldn't be further away from the stereotype of homemade backyard bunkers if they tried.
In fact, there is one very high-profile individual most people never would have expected as a prepper, who is better resourced and funded than some entire countries – Chinese President Xi Jinping.
For several years now, Xi has been warning about possible "black swan" and "grey rhino" events. Chinese state-run media reported that Xi ordered government officials to "prevent and defuse major risks" to "ensure a healthy economy and social stability".
A "black swan" is an unpredictable event with extreme consequences, while a "grey rhino" is a big and visible threat that goes largely ignored.
Now amid a world still struggling with the Covid-19 pandemic, Xi has renewed his calls for the Chinese government to prepare for "black swan" events and enacted a number of different policies to do so in Beijing's latest five-year plan.
There are such high levels of concern in China that the global financial markets may all come crashing down one day. Photo / AP
Fund managers warn of hyperinflation danger
With interest rates still near the lowest levels in history and stock market valuations at all-time record highs, according to some indicators, it's understandable why there are such high levels of concern in China that it may all come crashing down one day.
It's not just Chinese authorities who are concerned over the future of the global markets and the financial system.
Fund manager Michael Burry who was immortalised in the 2015 film The Big Short for his correct prediction that the US housing market would crash, recently warned that resurgent inflation could wreak havoc on the world. Burry went on to compare the modern United States with Germany in the early 1920s before hyperinflation blew up the economy.
Christian Bale plays Michael Burry in The Big Short. Photo / supplied
"Before the German hyperinflation in the 1920s, 'everyone from the elevator operator up was playing the market' and volumes became such that 'the financial industry could not keep up with the paperwork' … Sound familiar?" Burry tweeted.
Burry is not the only well-known investor to be raising the alarm. In a recent article, billionaire fund manager Jeremy Grantham shared his view that the current "fully-fledged epic bubble" would be "recorded as one of the great bubbles of financial history".
Grantham went on to predict that the bursting of the current financial market bubble would be remembered alongside the 1929 market crash that led to the Great Depression.
If the likes of Grantham, Burry and Guo are correct, the world could be in for quite a challenging time in the coming years.
While part of Beijing's five-year plan is a drive towards self-sufficiency and more resilient domestic economy, the Chinese Communist Party is also continuing to ramp up defence spending.
For 2021 the Chinese defence budget increased by 6.8 per cent ($18.8 billion). Part of the ramp up in China's military capabilities is the Chinese Navy's epic shipbuilding programme, which would leave Beijing far better equipped to deal with threats or potentially mount an invasion of Taiwan.
China's defence spending is ramping up, but still only accounts for about a third of defence spending in the United States. Photo / AP
China ramps up defence spending in five-year plan
History teaches us that these types of epic market meltdowns can lead to social unrest, the rise of political extremism and even wars between great powers, if things are not managed properly.
Given Xi's position as effectively leader for life and the most senior custodian of the welfare of the Chinese people, it's understandable why he wants China to steel itself against these possible scenarios and their potential aftermaths.
After seeing the pandemic take a wrecking ball to economies across the world, it's perhaps unsurprising that Xi and the Chinese government are concerned that the impact of the virus on the global economy and markets is far from over.
In recent months, Xi's concerns have been echoed by a number of senior figures in Beijing, including the chair of China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Guo Shuqing.
"I'm worried the bubble problem in foreign financial markets will one day pop," Guo said.
