Members began their discussion by noting that the pace of growth of Australia's major trading partners had continued to be around its long-run average over the past year. Recent data for China were consistent with GDP growth at around the authorities' target of 7.5 per cent. The growth rates of industrial production and retail sales had remained fairly steady, while the growth of fixed asset investment had declined a little further. The manufacturing PMI for August had declined to around the average level of recent years. Conditions in the Chinese residential property market continued to weaken and members observed ... (full story)