After decades of double-digit growth, China slumped back into single digits in 2012 -- with the latest GDP figures showing growth of 7.3% the September quarter of 2014 was one of the slowest since the financial crisis.
Pause for thought —
After decades of double-digit growth, China slumped back into single digits in 2012 -- with the latest GDP figures showing growth of 7.3% the September quarter of 2014 was one of the slowest since the financial crisis.
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China's property prices fell 1.3% in September, marking the first year-on-year fall in the sector. The housing sector accounts for 15% of China's economy, which grew at its slowest pace in the three months to September since the global financial crisis in 2008.
Rise and fall —
China's property prices fell 1.3% in September, marking the first year-on-year fall in the sector. The housing sector accounts for 15% of China's economy, which grew at its slowest pace in the three months to September since the global financial crisis in 2008.
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Wage inflation has raised a question mark over the future of China as a source of cheap labor. Losing its "workshop of the world" status would mean that market share was increasingly going to competitors in South East Asia.
An opportunity for others? —
Wage inflation has raised a question mark over the future of China as a source of cheap labor. Losing its "workshop of the world" status would mean that market share was increasingly going to competitors in South East Asia.
Workers pack coffee at a factory in Vietnam. Small and medium-sized companies in the South East Asian country are taking advantage of a boom created by a free trade agreement between China and Vietnam.
Business growth —
Workers pack coffee at a factory in Vietnam. Small and medium-sized companies in the South East Asian country are taking advantage of a boom created by a free trade agreement between China and Vietnam.
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Garment workers' accommodation in Cambodia. Workers in the ASEAN region can now produce apparel at a fraction of the cost of China's eastern seaboard which traditionally drew its labor pool from the country's inland provinces.
Production shift —
Garment workers' accommodation in Cambodia. Workers in the ASEAN region can now produce apparel at a fraction of the cost of China's eastern seaboard which traditionally drew its labor pool from the country's inland provinces.
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