ASIALINKS DAILY VIEW
China's Economy Appears Finally to Be Slowing
By MICHAEL CONNOLLY
Beijing has long sought to cool its frenzied investment and speculative bubbles -- largely unsuccessfully. Now, a combination of Beijing policy measures and the U.S. slowdown appear to be having an impact whose magnitude will become clear in two weeks' time when China reports its first-quarter gross domestic product. The World Bank on Tuesday lowered its forecast for Chinese GDP growth to 9.4%, down two full percentage points from 2007.
As Andrew Batson reports from Beijing, not only is the Shanghai stock market down 46% from its October peak, but property prices have leveled off after last year's sharp gains, and data for the first two months of 2008 show some slowing both externally and domestically. Export growth has dropped below 20% for the first time in recent years. But the economy's momentum is still quite fast, and some sectors such as consumer spending are holding up well.
Meanwhile, confidence among Japan's big manufacturers deteriorated sharply during the first three months of the year, raising fears that a slowdown in corporate activity could push the economy into a recession. As Yuka Hayashi reports, the news underscores worries among Japan's big companies that, after six consecutive years of expansion, their profits will be squeezed this year.
Read Andrew Batson's report from Beijing on China's slowing growth:
Read Yuka Hayashi's report on Japan's sinking business confidence:
Read our editorial writers' views on Tokyo's Keynesian policies:
Read Ditas Lopez's report on the World Bank cutting its economic-growth forecast for East Asia:
