China’s Industrial Output May Grow at Weakest Pace Since 1999
More bad news about the Chinese economy: Bloomberg predicts that the country’s industrial production — the total amount of industrial products and services — will have grown at its slowest rate in nine years:
China needs to prepare for a “worst case scenario” as a global economic slump deepens, Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said Dec. 4. Exporters of toys, clothes and furniture are cutting production or closing down, triggering a surge in labor disputes and increasing the risk of social unrest in the world’s most populous nation.
“There will be more rate cuts and more fiscal easing,” said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist with Royal Bank of Scotland Plc in Hong Kong.
Industrial-production growth would be the least since October 1999, excluding distortions caused in January and February each year by Lunar New Year holidays. The number is due Dec. 15.
Origin: Kevin Hamlin, Bloomberg
POSTED COMMENTS: One Response
Hello. I am an American married woman who is lower middle class by US standards. I just want to say that one reason the demand for clothes, toys, foodstuffs and furniture has fallen off is that Americans become suspicious of ALL products when it is discovered that toys bought for our kids are painted with lead based paint. A TOXIC substance. When food is tainted with melamine which has killed Chinese babies too that makes us fearful of all food. I have bought many clothing items made in China but I won’t anymore because the quality is awful. The fabric colors bleed in the laundry, the items are cut off-grain to save on fabric but after laundering, the items don’t drape properly. The furniture is not designed for taller, bigger, heavier American bodies. Basically, it’s a QUALITY issue. Now I know that your factory owners are aware that we have inspections of goods coming from all countries, not just China. So why try to let badly made items leave your country? China is only punishing itself with dwindling sales. Please help me understand this. Thank you for letting me speak.