China’s economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter as gains in factory output and investment spending eased last month, sapping momentum as a credit clampdown adds pressure on the outlook for this year. Gross domestic product rose 7.7 percent in the October-December period from a year earlier and 1.8 percent from the prior quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. Asian stocks pared declines and the Australian dollar and copper erased losses after year-over-year GDP exceeded the median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey. Any deeper slowdown would test leaders’ willingness to ... (full story)