China's growth slowest in 7 years
22-01-2009
China's economy has expanded at its slowest pace in seven years. Gross domestic product rose 6.8 percent in the final quarter of last year - compared with nine percent for the previous quarter. The latest figure brought down overall growth for 2008 to nine percent - which is down from 13 percent in the previous year. But a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, Ma Jiantang, said the slowdown shouldn't last long. Three institutions have reduced their forecast for the Chinese economy in 2009, following the release of the latest figure. Daiwa Institute of Research, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup now predict the economy to expand between 6.3 percent and 7.6 percent.
