China’s Growth Rebounds But Still Vulnerable

(BEIJING) — China‘s economy rebounded in the final quarter of 2012 but optimism was tempered by warnings the recovery could be vulnerable to a possible downturn in global trade. Growth rose to 7.9 percent in the three months ending in December as the world’s second-largest economy limped out of its deepest slowdown since the 2008 global crisis, data showed Friday. That was up from 7.4 percent the previous quarter and raised total growth for the year to 7.8 percent — China’s weakest year since the 1990s. “We see growth rising above 8 percent in the first half of 2013,” said Mark Williams of Capital Economics. “I don’t think China is an economy in need of further stimulus at this point.” The slowdown was due largely to government controls imposed to cool a real estate boom and surging inflation fueled by Beijing’s massive stimulus i...