From The Wall Street Journal:
Even as China reported today a second year of annual growth above 11%, the prospect of a U.S.-led global economic slowdown looked likely to force a shift in priorities: from curbing the boom to sustaining momentum.
The government wants to generate 10 million urban jobs this year. Delivering that is likely to mean a sharper focus on the domestic economy, after a period when trade has been a big growth driver.
China’s export engine started to slow near the end of the year, and the wider effects of that are already being felt. Economic growth peaked at 11.9% in the second quarter, then eased to 11.5% in the third. In the fourth quarter, the economy grew 11.2%, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. For all of 2007, gross domestic product expanded 11.4%, the bureau said.
