Fluctuations in China’s economy have been making headlines in the North Pacific Rim region – and the wider world – for much of 2016, such is the significance of its prosperity both locally and globally. Once rampant growth has throttled back as China’s economic activity has ebbed. Growth in 2015 fell to its weakest pace in a quarter of a century, while projections for 2016 suggest another year of relative struggle.
Though it was always inevitable that such a growth trajectory would begin to plateau somewhat, China is wrestling with a shift in its economic model that will ultimately make it more self-sustaining, geared more toward services and consumption than its traditional dependence on investment and export – a transformation that comes at short-term cost.
The consequences ripple out across the Asia-Pacific region and on a global level, creating a drag in various economies across the world, big or small, established or emerging. At the time of writing, several indicators suggest China is on a comparatively steadier footing as 2016 draws to a close, but many question how this momentum or stability can be maintained. It is against this backdrop that gasworld looks at three of the key industrial gas markets of the North Pacific Rim this month: China, Japan and South Korea.
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