Slowdown in Chinese economy would be bad for the UK and Europe, says our panel
A SLOWDOWN in the Chinese economy would be “unhelpful” to both the UK and Europe, according to the majority of participants in our latest Voice of the City poll, run in association with PoliticsHome.com.
Seventy-one per cent of our panel said a slower Chinese growth would be either very or somewhat unhelpful to the Western economies, with two per cent labelling the potential effect as “devastating”.
However, the panel was divided on whether a real threat exists, with 36 per cent agreeing that China was running out of steam, while 44 per cent disagreed.
At the G20 meeting in Paris earlier this month, the Chinese delegation, led by finance minister Xie Xuren (pictured) urged countries to work together to “enhance coordination on macroeconomic policies to guard economic growth and financial stability”.
According to official figures, Chinas economic expansion slowed to 9.1 per cent from a year earlier in the third quarter, its weakest pace in more than two years as euro-debt strains and a sluggish US economy took a toll.
But just 26 per cent of our panel believed the official statistics, with 57 per cent deeming the results either somewhat or not at all credible.
To join the panel and have your say as part of our weekly political survey, apply at www.cityam.com/panel.