World climate for March rated "Stormy" for the seventh consecutive month
- the pace of economic growth decelerating in China

May 2013
Yuta TACHI (Economist)

   The JCER World Business Climate Index for March stood at -10.5, rating "stormy" for seventh months straight. The U.S., Japan and China, which have a large share in the overall index, were the main negative contributors. Although stock price indices of the U.S. and Japan have been rising owing to the expectation of economic recovery, that of china have been decreasing since the beginning of the year. Besides, the climate index, which consists of industrial production, retail sales and imports that reflect the real economy has been following the same trend. It seems that the slowdown of export growth caused by, for instance, EU's stagnation is still at stake.

    As for the preliminary estimates for April, both China and the U.S. became worse. Index of China rated "rainy" for the twelfth consecutive month and that of the U.S. turned to be "stormy". However, it should be noted that a decrease in import index of the U.S. is brought by "shale revolution", which is affecting the climate index negatively.