The Wall Street Journal reports,"markets were a bit lower in Asia and Europe following another spate of poor Chinese data, but the news hasn’t come as the knockout blow it might have been.
The weakening Chinese growth picture is a worry for the rest of the world as so many countries’ own economic performance depends on Chinese demand. But in addition to the fact that there are mitigating factors — such as the distorting effect of the Lunar New Year holidays last month – the news need not be taken so badly. Investors are perhaps accepting that for all the structural changes that China’s economy needs to go through – for the benefit of its own citizens and those of the rest of the world – this degree of necessary slowdown is quite bearable".
"CHINA: A bunch of fresh data points out of China Thursday disappointed: Industrial output rose 8.6% on-year in January-February (the data is combined to minimize distortion from the Lunar New Year holiday), down from 9.7% in December and vs. 9.5% expected. Fixed-asset investment grew by 17.9% on-year – the weakest pace since 2002 – down from 19.6% in 2013. Retail sales rose 11.8% on-year in January-February, down from 13.6% in December. Construction starts fell by 27%.
The data add to the pile of evidence that China’s growth is slowing, but don’t materially change the picture. Indeed, markets – which have been hit quite a bit lately by the China outlook, especially for commodities — largely shrugged off Thursday’s news. Earlier in the day, Premier Li Keqiang said China could still meet its 7.5% growth target for the year, but also emphasized that the leadership was no longer pursuing growth at all costs. Li’s administration has been repeating that message quite a bit lately. It may involve some short-term pain now but in the long run it’s a good thing that China is putting its economy on a more sustainable path and getting its banking system under control".
