Japan reported its sharpest crash in business sentiment in three decades today and industrial output in China grew at its slowest pace since 1999, the latest signs of damage done to Asian economies by the global
crisis.
The Bank of Japan's tankan survey gauging big manufacturers' sentiment fell to minus 24, slightly worse than expected, from minus 3 the previous quarter. It was the biggest fall since the oil crises of the 1970s and the bleakest outlook since 2002, when Japan was recovering from a slump after a banking crisis.
The December survey pointed to more economic gloom ahead.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa told the
Financial Timesthe economy might shrink in the year to March 2010, where the bank previously expected a slim recovery.
In a historic meeting on Saturday, Japan, China and South Korea pledged joint action to tackle the impact of the global crisis, despite decades of animosity.
But while they promised not to create new trade barriers and backed efforts to bolster a regional safety net of currency swaps, they did not unveil any new initiatives.
China, Asia's biggest emerging economy, still expects robust growth despite the global slowdown.
But its annual industrial output growth slowed to 5.4 per cent in November, the weakest in at least nine years for a non-holiday month and down from 8.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
"Next year's employment market will be very serious, affected by the international financial crisis," Xinhua quoted Chinese pPresident Hu Jintao as saying.
Analysts say unemployment could fuel more social unrest in China.
Reuters