For years we've heard that China is an unstoppable economic engine. In 2023 that changed.

What we've seen in this year is the end of China's economic miracle as we know it.

From Axios, I'm Naila Boodoo and this is one big thing. One stat says it all. In the third quarter this year foreign

direct investment in China was negative for the first time in modern history.

That doesn't mean China's economy is doomed,

but what does this mean for all of us?

Today for the holidays, we're bringing you another special episode

of One Big Thing

where we spotlight a leader from within our newsroom.

Bethany Alan Ibrahimian is Exios' China reporter

and author of Beijing Rules, China's quest for global influence.

She's based in Taiwan, but she was back at our Axios home offices

in DC for the holidays, so we got together to talk

for our very last episode of 2023.

Hi Bethany, welcome to One Big Thing.

Hi Nyla, thanks for having me.

Before we get to what's happened this year,

we always talk about China being a global economic powerhouse. In my mind, what

that means is like when I used to interview farmers in Illinois, I was always amazed at how much

China factored into their business.

The connections between Peoria and Beijing astounded me.

But can you give us another sense of exactly what we mean

...