Tuesday, February 10, 2015

China Steps on the Brakes

The Chinese economy appears to be taking a few more steps backward: In January, exports from China fell by 3.3 percent from year-ago levels, while imports fell by a whopping 19.9 percent. Coal imports dropped nearly 40 percent and oil imports fell by 7.9 percent, signaling a slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy.

China posted 7.4 percent GDP growth in 2014, which sounds impressive compared to our figures but was the slowest pace for that country in 24 years. And the Chinese government is expected to lower its GDP target to around 7 percent for 2015.

China's total GDP was an estimated $10.36 trillion in 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund. That's a distant second to the U.S. at $17.7 trillion, and will likely stay that way for a while, if China's growth continues to slow.

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