China’s gross domestic product grew 7% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, marking the indicator’s slowest growth since 2009 as output, investment and retail figures all suggesting a deepening slowdown, Bloomberg reported, citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics. “The implications are for further sluggishness in the second quarter, without a more forceful policy response,” said Andrew Polk, a Beijing-based economist at the Conference Board research group. The Shanghai Composite Index also fell 1.2% Wednesday, nicking off a bit of the bourse’s world-beating rally; that followed a 1.6% dip of the Hang Seng Index on Tuesday, which broke an eight-day winning streak.