Shenzhen's growth rate slips to 30-year low

Economic growth in Shenzhen slid to its lowest level in nearly 30 years during the first half of the year, the South China Morning Post reported. The city posted GDP growth of 10.5% for the sixth-month period, a marked slowdown on the 14.6% growth in 2007 as a whole. Economic planners have revised down their full-year projection for 2008 from 14.7% to 12%. By comparison, between 1980 and 2006 Shenzhen saw its economy expand by more than 27%. Xu Zongheng, the city mayor, told a radio program on Tuesday that Shenzhen was facing an economic situation "even tougher and more severe than the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis." Xu said the city’s troubles were a response to the credit crisis in the US, declining global demand and tighter domestic monetary policy.