20 October 2008

Chinese economy grows at slowest pace since 2003

This article is excerpted from the 20 October 2008 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

China's economy is expanding at its slowest pace since the SARS epidemic of 2003, adding fresh anxieties to mounting fears of a global economic slump in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis.

China's growth fell to 9 per cent in the third quarter of this year, the slowest rate in the past five years, the national statistics bureau announced today.

Analysts had expected a small decline in the growth rate, but the drop was greater than expected. China's economy was booming at a rate of 10.4 per cent in the first half of this year and 11.9 per cent last year.

Much of the decline in growth was due to slumping Chinese exports. Foreign demand for Chinese products has been severely hit by the global financial meltdown and the U.S. economic downturn….

The financial crisis today is “even graver” than the Asian economic crisis of 1997, and could be the worst since the 1930s, Mr. Li told a news conference. “It is widespread, far-reaching and entails a lot of uncertainty…. It certainly has had a bad effect on China's economic development.”…

Chinese export industries such as garments and toys have suffered major declines this year, with thousands of companies shutting their doors…..

An industry federation in Hong Kong estimated that a quarter of the 70,000 Hong Kong-owned businesses in the Pearl River Delta might fold….