Core Viewpoint - Since 2022, China's PPI has shown a rapid downward trend, leading to different economic perceptions under the same growth rate, with significant pressure on industrial enterprise profits [1][2] Group 1: PPI Trends and Economic Impact - The current PPI decline is broader, affecting midstream and downstream consumer manufacturing industries, contributing 29.3% to the PPI decline, compared to only 9.3% in the previous cycle [2] - In the first half of 2025, despite good economic growth, profits of industrial enterprises above a designated size decreased by 1.8% to 3.44 trillion, comparable to the same period in 2018 [1] - CPI has shown relative weakness in this cycle, with the core CPI growth rate dropping from 1.5% to 0.5%, and some months even experiencing negative growth [2] Group 2: Policy Responses and Historical Context - The government recognizes the pressure from PPI decline and has proposed measures to prevent "involution-style" competition and promote the exit of excess capacity [1] - Historical examples, such as the U.S. response to the Great Depression, show that demand expansion policies are crucial for overcoming total demand shortages [3][4] - Japan's experience post-2012 illustrates that monetary and fiscal expansion can help escape prolonged deflation [4] Group 3: Long-term Capacity Considerations - Long-term capacity overcapacity may only appear during economic downturns, with recovery potentially leading to a resurgence in demand [4][5] - The steel industry serves as a case study, where capacity was reduced but later rebounded due to increased demand, highlighting the challenges in predicting industry structural changes [4] - The cyclical nature of overcapacity and industrial adjustment in China since 2012 indicates a need for careful macroeconomic management rather than aggressive capacity reduction [5]