From AP, via Detroit Free Press:
The signs of a surging economy are everywhere: flashy luxury cars, glitzy shopping malls, expensive restaurants and construction cranes in many neighborhoods.
For most Chinese, this is a good thing. It means more jobs, higher incomes and rising affluence. But China’s leaders, fearful of accelerating inflation and the risk that all this investment could collapse in a debt crisis if borrowers go bankrupt, are trying to apply the brakes.
How well they succeed is taking on an increasing global importance, as a slide in stock prices in Asia and then Europe on Thursday demonstrated. The reaction came after Beijing reported its economy expanded in the first quarter a sizzling 11.1% from the same quarter a year ago and that inflation was the highest in two years.[Full Text]
