Der Spiegel writes about Western hopes that China will revive the global economic slump:
Last week, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said cautiously that the global economy is “near a turning point.” In a cover story, the German business daily Handelsblatt wrote that the “nosedive of the German economy appears to have been stopped.” Germany’s export business could be digging itself out of the red, thanks in part to Asia.
But even members of the government in Berlin are unwilling to hazard a prediction as to whether this is truly a trend reversal or merely a flash in the pan. China appears to be primarily responsible for this bit of optimism. The West, for its part, is hoping for an increase in China’s interest in its machinery, goods and know-how.
The West hopes that millions of Chinese consumers like farmer Wang will, at least in part, replace consumers in Europe and the United States, who have been buying fewer and fewer goods that are “made in China” since the crisis began. Chinese exports plunged by about 22 percent in April alone.
