Daily FNArena News - International

Standard Chartered suggests, on closer inspection, that last week’s devastating Chinese economic data may not actually be as bad as first assumed.

The end of an era of double digit GDP growth in China has been confirmed by today’s release of December quarter data in the country.

Chinese consumers are in essence facing the same battle as consumers elsewhere, new data and insights show.

Simply awful is probably the best way to describe the data that are being released in China these days.

Predictions for 2009 are flowing in and DBS joins the queue in downgrading its outlook and forecasts for the Asian region.

For the first time in seven years Chinese exports have fallen raising serious questions about the country’s real economic prospects through this recession.

If the global economic slowdown isn’t bad enough for “the other China”, the terrorist attacks in Mumbai have hardly helped.

ANZ has lowered its growth outlook for Asia for the coming year, with the South-East better placed at present than the North-East.

The latest survey of Chinese manufacturing conditions by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets shows a further decline, reflecting both a weak economic environment and soft demand.

While similar, the current decline of Asian currencies differs in many ways from the falls of the 2000/01 global economic downturn.