China’s broad economic growth was expected to ease to around 6.6 percent in the second half of this year, the State Information Center said on Saturday. The official China Securities Journal quoted the State Information Center (SIC) saying the Chinese economy is likely to experience a mild slowdown in the second half of the year as financial market risks become “obvious” and demand is expected to decline. The SIC is an official think tank affiliated with the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning agency. The economy has already felt the pinch from a crackdown on riskier lending that has driven up corporate borrowing costs. The central bank has since pumped more cash into the economy to ease fears from the start of a trade war with the United States by cutting reserve requirements for banks. Published in Daily Times, July 8th 2018.