Money | China China Faces Rocky Road in Keeping Up Growth The gains of the past 30 years will be hard to maintain as workers age By Jim O'Neill Posted Aug 25, 2008 10:32 AM CDT Copied A worker operates a machine to make socks at Langsha Socks Group production plant in Yiwu, China. From clothing exports to auto sales, China's booming economy is weakening. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File) The opulence of the Beijing Olympics highlighted just how far China has come since opening its economy 30 years ago—it soon will be the world’s third largest. But with the success comes a plethora of challenges, reports the Wall Street Journal. And chief among them is how to maintain the phenomenal growth. But with a changing population, China won’t be able to rely on the same old policies to maintain its gains. And the country is important to the world’s economy. Wrote Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson: "Serious troubles in China's economy could threaten the stability of the US and global economies." Read These Next Republicans join pushback over Trump firing. Want to teach in Oklahoma? Prep for an 'America First' test. A 911 call to a Canadian search and rescue team was an odd one. RIP Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1967-2025. Report an error