The word ‘recession’ is once again on the lips of some of the world’s leading economists and the latest news from China will only act to add fuel to fire. It has been announced that China’s economy grew by 6.9 percent in 2015, compared with 7.3 percent last year. This is the slowest level of growth recorded in a quarter of a century.
For the past few months, a string of worrying economic signals from China has prompted world markets to go into spasms of panic, prompting stocks to plunge. Given China’s position as one of the key drivers of the world economy, investors are likely to see the spectre of a western recession in the figures.
The Chinese economy has been slowing for sometime and some observers claim that growth levels may actually be much weaker than official data suggests and that Beijing could be inflating the figures to avoid further panic.
Analysts have said that any growth below 6.8 percent would likely fuel calls for further economic stimulus. Economic growth in the final quarter of 2015 edged down to 6.8 percent according to the country’s national bureau of statistics.
Robert joined the HRreview editorial team in October 2015. After graduating from the University of Salford in 2009 with a BA in Politics, Robert has spent several years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past he has been part of editorial teams at Flux Magazine, Mondo*Arc Magazine and The Marine Professional.