"After 10 per cent average growth after 20 years, at some stage growth will settle into first-world rates," TD Securities analyst Annette Beacher told Australia’s ABC in a recent interview. And this is between 3 to 4 per cent, “but we're another decade away from those sorts of numbers,” according to the analyst.

Current figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics show that economic growth slowed to an annual rate of 7.5 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, down from 7.7 per cent the previous quarter. Whilst the output from China's factories did not fulfil the forecasts, retail sales exceeded expectations and gross domestic product (GDP) figures met government targets and economists' forecasts. All this indicates a shift from industrial production towards consumption led by retail sales. 

China's trade surplus, however, fell 14 per cent in June, with imports and exports both decreasing, as the Asian economic giant was hit by the general global weakness.

"Currently, China's foreign trade is facing grave challenges," Customs spokesman Zheng Yuesheng told journalists in July. He said "prolonged sluggish foreign demand" was the main reason, but increased export prices in foreign currency terms, labour costs, and a worsening trade environment due to trade disputes also contributed.

China’s slower growth was also crimping demand for German exports. Due to the ongoing weakness of the European market, Germany faces an already weak demand from other euro-zone countries. These combined factors then lead to weaker industrial production for the European powerhouse as well.

Sources: news.com.au; ABC; Wall Street Journal