China's Q4 Economic Growth Slows

Economy grew by 9% in 2008, down sharply from 13% in 2007
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 22, 2009 9:00 AM CST
China's Q4 Economic Growth Slows
Workers make dumplings in Shanghai, China. China's economic slump worsened in the final quarter of 2008.   (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

China’s economy expanded at 9% in 2008, in a drastic slowdown marking the first time China has seen single digit growth since 2002, reports the Wall Street Journal. A soft export market and its own housing collapse slowed fourth-quarter growth to just 6.8%, threatening the government’s baseline goal of 8% annual growth—a mark many say is unrealistic for 2009.

China remains the fastest-growing economy among major players, and follows only the US and Japan in size. In 2007, it recorded its best year in more than a decade, growing 13%. But the world financial crisis has pummeled China's vital exports sector, and soft demand has resulted in millions of workers losing their jobs.
(More China stories.)

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