China's new fears of a downturn

Over the past year Beijing has been caught between sticking to restrictive policies to achieve a soft landing and switching gears to deal with the repercussions of the Eurozone crisis. The cut in Chinas bank reserve ratio by 50 basis points, which came as a surprise to some,signals that the risks of a major economic slowdown are now of greater concern than an overheated economy. Data showing that Chinese manufacturing activity contracted last month for the first time in almost three years only added to those fears ... READ MORE

Released by the FT - 1 December 2011