More pain than gain seen for China economy

Shanghai

CHINA'S economic growth, already at its slowest in decades, will get worse before it gets better, as economists say it will take time before liberalising reforms turn net positive, and Beijing needs to bite more such bullets for a sustainable turnaround.

GDP (gross domestic product) growth slowed to 7.4 per cent last year, its weakest since 1990, and Beijing is calling for around 7 per cent growth in 2015. The IMF recently predicted 6.8 per cent growth this year, and 6.25 per cent in 2016.

That's still a rip…