As 2012 progresses it is becoming increasingly clear that economic growth in China is slowing more sharply than many had expected—including, probably, the country’s leadership. Moreover, data releases continue to provide little evidence of the expected pickup in activity, and talk has even begun to turn to the possibility that the benign scenario of a soft landing for the Chinese economy can no longer be taken for granted. With the Chinese economy having been a central engine of global growth over the past decade, and a key buffer during the 2008-09 global crisis, such a scenario would clearly deliver a grave blow worldwide.
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