China's economy posts slowest growth since 1999

China's economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, though a year-end spurt supported by infrastructure spending and a jump in trade signaled the foundation for the stable growth path Beijing says is vital for economic reform may be in sight.

Evidence of a burgeoning recovery in exports, stronger than expected industrial output and retail sales, together with robust fixed asset investment, all indicated that Beijing's pro-growth policy mix has gained sufficient traction to underpin a revival without yet igniting inflationary risks.

Year-on-year growth of 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter beat a consensus forecast of 7.8 percent in a Reuters poll and snapped a streak of seven consecutive quarters of slowdown.

The performance was at the upper end of the 7-8 percent rate economists reckon is needed to deliver on reforms essential to China's long-term development after three decades of red-hot, double-digit growth.

Full year growth of 7.8 percent was also just ahead of the poll's 7.7 percent call and, although the weakest since 1999, comfortably ahead of the government's 7.5 percent target, which just months ago seemed to some economists to be in jeopardy.

"It's kind of like a golden spot - stronger growth, but not strong enough to trigger a lot more inflationary concern. That's perfect for equity markets." said Dariusz Kowalczyk, Asia ex-Japan senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

China’s “Prepare for War” Orders Unsettling in Japan

With the transfer of power occurring in China, it’s only natural for new policies to be put into effect either for the improvement of society or for purely superficial demonstrations of power to both domestic and international rivals.
Currently a lot is being made on online message boards of reports coming from Chinese media outlining new orders for 2013 which apply to all branches of the People’s Liberation Army. Some Japanese media outlets have been interpreting these orders as “prepare for war… presumably against Japan.”

According to the Chinese military’s news source, PLA Daily documents dated 14 January lay out the goals for this year. These goals include “making firm preparations for war” and “increase the strictness and difficulty of all troops’ training to match combat conditions.”
Although these quotes might sound alarming, they are pretty much identical to the goals laid out last year. In fact they are probably similar to the goals of any military organization anywhere. However, new to the policy this year was an emphasis on coordinating military information between troops as the central goal.
Japan is not mentioned anywhere in connection to these goals. Nevertheless, many would argue that Japan is number one on China’s sh*t-list. This belief has been attributed to tendencies in Chinese media surrounding the ongoing Senkaku Islands dispute.
Since the beginning of this year, China’s state-run television channel China Central Television (CCTV) has reportedly been airing “Senkaku War” themed programs on a near daily basis.
It has also been reported that Chinese scholars who advocate a peaceful negotiation have been largely ignored by the media, leaving the two sides of the debate presented as “minor conflict around Senkaku” or “full-scale war with Japan.”
However, outside of heated opinions in the media there has been no tangible indication that the Chinese military is preparing to embark on an attack against Japan. As high as tensions have risen between the two countries even a minor battle seems unlikely.