China’s economic slowdown could be worse than official forecasts and a recovery may not come before 2014, according to the chairman of Marubeni Corp. (8002), Japan’s biggest power and agriculture trading company.
Thinning cargo volumes and trading margins suggest China’s gross domestic product may be expanding at less than the announced 7.5 percent in the second quarter, Teruo Asada said in an interview in Tokyo, making the U.S. a better prospect for the trader’s expansion.
“The Chinese economy will come back, but it will take time,” possibly not until spring next year, because domestic firms prioritize employment over efficiency and have created overcapacity, Asada said. As Marubeni looks to expand its agriculture, energy and mining business, “the first great opportunity exists in the U.S. frankly speaking, it’s not China, not India.”
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