China's first quarter growth slows

China's Q1 GDP growth slows to 7.7 pct

Xinhua

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BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth unexpectedly slowed to 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2013, down from 7.9 percent during the final quarter of 2012, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

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China's Q1 GDP growth slows to 7.7 pct

English.news.cn   2013-04-15 10:03:58

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth unexpectedly slowed to 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2013, down from 7.9 percent during the final quarter of 2012, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.
The rate was weaker than most market expectations, but still stayed above the 7.5-percent full-year target for 2013 set by the government last month.
According to preliminary statistics, the GDP totaled 11.89 trillion yuan (1.9 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three months.
"The data has continued a stabilizing growth trend that took shape late last year, showing that the new government does not put pursuing growth as its number-one task," said Wang Jun, an economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.
China's full-year annual growth in 2012 eased to 7.8 percent, its weakest since 1999.
GDP figures headed a string of other data showing that industrial output grew 9.5 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2013, down from the 11.6-percent pace recorded during the same period of last year.
The growth of fixed-asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, remained unchanged at 20.9 percent during the period compared to a year earlier.
Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, increased 12.4 percent from a year earlier, easing from the 14.8 percent logged in the same period last year.
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China's Q1 fixed-asset investment up 20.9 pct
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's urban fixed asset investment rose 20.9 percent year on year to 5.8092 trillion yuan (929.47 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2013, at a same pace year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.
Investment in property development climbed 20.2 percent, down 3.3 percentage points over the same period of last year, the NBS said.  Full story
China's Q1 industrial output growth slows to 9.5 pct
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial value-added output rose 9.5 percent year on year in the first quarter, down 2.1 percentage points from the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.  Full story
China's retail sales up 12.4 pct in Q1
BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's retail sales grew 12.4 percent year on year to 5.5451 trillion yuan (887.22 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of this year, down 2.4 percentage points year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.
The bureau attributed the slower growth to decrease in the catering sector due to the the efforts by the government to curb fiscal spending.  Full story
China targets 7.5-pct GDP growth
BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government announced Tuesday that its GDP growth target will remain around 7.5 percent this year to leave room for economic restructuring.
The target is intended to help create jobs and improve people's well-being, Premier Wen Jiabao said while delivering his last government work report to the opening session of 12th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.  Full story
Think tank predicts 8.4-pct China GDP growth
BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- A leading think tank predicted on Saturday that China's GDP will grow in 2013 at a rate of 8.4 percent, up by 0.6 percentage points from that of 2012.
The Center for Forecasting Science with the Chinese Academy of Sciences said it expects China's economy will see a modest rebound in 2013, with secondary and tertiary industries rising by 8.9 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively.  Full story
ADB raises China 2013 growth forecast
BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has revised its forecast for China's 2013 economic growth from 8.1 percent to 8.2 percent while stressing downside risks.
Buoyed by strong consumer spending and fiscal expenditure, China's economic growth is expected to rebound from the 13-year low of 7.8 percent in 2012 to 8.2 percent this year, according to an ADB report released on Tuesday. The Chinese economy will maintain its recovering momentum in the first half of 2013, and its economic growth will stabilize in the second half as the effects of last year's stimulus package sink in, said Hamid L. Sharif, country director for ADB's Resident Mission in China.  Full story

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China's Q1 GDP growth slows to 7.7 pct

 

I have been reading many articles about this and something appears to be going on where all the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) appear to be going into a phase similar to what the U.S. did in 2008. Of course since they watched the U.S. and now Europe  go through it maybe they will have an easier time than we all did by learning from our mistakes. However, it might go the other way too if there aren't good checks and balances in place to help them all through this time. So, I think each of these nations might have a very individualistic experience of this. The other factor is that the U.S. seems to be emerging from this awful state stronger than most other nations. But since we are emerging mainly through quantatative easing it remains to be seen how strong we really would be without that happening? And what will the effect of all these countries going through their difficulties on the U.S. and Europe? It is not really possible to know how all this is going to go at this point.

However, to me, the real driver isn't any nation. The real driver is Global Climate change and how much food can be grown at a price people can afford to buy so they can actually afford to eat. If people can't afford to eat, everything goes out the window and becomes dysfunctional for most of the world. Starving people tend to overthrow governments so we need to watch out for this happening all around the world. If the people aren't fed enough by any government it is going to be gone sooner or later.