The Chinese government continues to express firm faith in its economy's ability to withstand the global economic crisis. And certainly its recent imports of chemicals and polymers have been a lifeline for many companies outside the country.
But now Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has reinforced the blog's concerns about the economy. Wal-Mart reports that the "contracting economy in China is causing caution among customers, resulting in a decrease in traffic". It also adds that "deflation in food and consumables impacted average ticket" (ie average sales per customer).