Countries worldwide are buying more than ever from China, but domestic consumption is lagging and government stimulus efforts aren’t working.

In Washington, China hawks say its economy is too weak to withstand a tariff shock. In the city of Yiwu, factories are showing why, for now, that may be a miscalculation.

An interview with a 26-year-old entrepreneur, who has taken seven trips to China to buy handbags, clothes and jewelry. “China is the center of everything,” she said.

In Washington, China hawks say its economy is too weak to withstand a tariff shock. In the city of Yiwu, factories are showing why, for now, that may be a miscalculation.

© Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

An interview with a 26-year-old entrepreneur, who has taken seven trips to China to buy handbags, clothes and jewelry. “China is the center of everything,” she said.

© Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

China’s baby boom enriched a small Irish town where a Nestlé factory made formula for Chinese newborns. Then a baby bust unraveled it all. Or so it seemed.

For American manufacturers, it is hard to quit China and its unrivaled factories. One industry is defying that reality as it shifts more production to Vietnam.

The U.S. said Samsung and SK Hynix could no longer ship American equipment to their production facilities in China without government licenses.