Geography Homework (Urgent) !!!
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china_1_1.docxChina G.D.P. Growth at Slowest Pace Since 2009, Data Shows
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/business/international/china-gdp-economy.html
By NEIL GOUGH
JANUARY 18, 2016
HONG KONG — China’s growth slowed further last year, adding to the troubling economic picture that is unsettling investors around the world.
The Chinese economy grew at a 6.8 percent pace in the fourth quarter, according to data released on Tuesday. It was the lowest quarterly expansion since the global financial crisis in 2009.
Uncertainty about the Chinese economy — and whether the government can manage a slowdown — has been weighing heavily on global markets in recent weeks. Investors, in part, are trying to determine if China’s slump will spread, dragging down the rest of the world.
The latest data is not likely to reassure investors that all is well in China, the world’s second-largest economy.
The quarterly growth rate was lower than analysts expected. For the full year, China expanded at 6.9 percent, just below the government’s target of 7 percent.
It is a pace that would be the envy of many developed countries. But the figure represented China’s slowest expansion since 1990, when foreign investment shriveled in the year after the government’s deadly crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square.
“Signs of growth bottoming out are nowhere to be seen,” said Li-Gang Liu, the chief economist for greater China at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Groups. “Instead, we will see at least another two years of further growth slowdown.”
After decades of double-digit growth, the Chinese economy is entering a new era of more muted growth. While the government’s leaders have said they are comfortable with this shift, the slowdown creates a host of unexpected challenges.
China’s growth is decelerating as its traditional industrial businesses struggle with excess capacity and dwindling demand. A slump in new housing construction is hurting consumption of building materials including steel, cement and glass, even as home prices show signs of a rebound.
China’s export base in lower-end manufacturing, once a powerhouse that drove growth and created jobs, has been hollowed out. Factories churning out goods like garments and furniture are losing competitiveness because of lower wages in Southeast Asia and South Asia.
Although consumer spending and more innovative private sector companies are expected to help China’s economy expand in the future, analysts worry that their development will be too slow to offset the current and painful industrial slowdown.
And the government’s response could add to the challenges. The government has rolled out a raft of stimulus measures to help bolster the economy. But that only threatens to leave already struggling companies even deeper in debt.
Taken collectively, China’s results could spell more trouble for global growth, even as the economy in the United States shows resilience.
Separate monthly data released on Tuesday offered no sign that China’s slowdown was bottoming out. In December, industrial production rose 5.9 percent from a year ago, retail sales increased 11.1 percent and investment rose 10 percent — all of which were slightly below economists’ forecasts.
In a news release on Tuesday, China’s state statistics agency said the growth rate last year was challenged by a “complicated international environment and increasing downward pressure on the economy.” However, it added that the economy “achieved moderate but stable and sound development.”
The weakness in China has reverberated around the world, as investors try to dissect what’s actually happening in the country’s economy. The plunge in Chinese stocks, which are now in bear territory, only clouds the outlook.
Global investors worry about what these dramatic stock swings say about the health of China’s economy. But analysts note that the frequent gyrations of Chinese stocks are often unrelated to what is happening on the ground in China.
He cited the example of a huge rally in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets in the first half of last year— which gathered steam even as the economic data emerging from the mainland suggested a sharpening slowdown.
“A lot of what goes on is driven by perceptions of what policy makers are going to do in terms of market support, rather than what’s happening in the real economy,” said Mr. Evans-Pritchard.
Asian markets seemed unmoved by the G.D.P. figures, as Shanghai closed up 3.25 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index finished the day up about 0.6 percent. In Europe, the FTSE Euronext index rose nearly 2 percent at the open.
Name of article: China G.D.P. Growth at Slowest Pace Since 2009, Data Shows
Date of article: JANUARY 18, 2016
Country: China
Who is the article about? The Chinese people
What event is the article discussing (summarize in about 4-5 sentences)? I just asked “who” it was about. Now think about “what, where, why, and how.”
The article talks about the slowed Chinese Economic progress and the deviation over the years. This has been attributed to the excess capacity and dwindling demand for its traditional industries. This is because the exports base is lower due to the cheap wages in the Southern Asia.
Is the article about “high politics” or everyday life?
The article is about everyday life matters. It touches on the economic state of China , the deviation and the unfruitful measures taken to salvage the Economy.
Does the article discuss events at the local level (village, city, etc), national level (influencing the whole country), or international level (involving another country or organization)?
The article discusses events of the whole country and at several points compares it to other nations. It therefore speaks of events affecting the whole country and the effect of that internationally.
In 1-3 sentences, how did the article make you feel? Is there anything in the article that is relatable, or is it just sort of an obscure event occurring somewhere far away?
It made me feel well informed on what the phase the country is undergoing. This article speaks of an obscure event happening in China.
