Erstellt am: 25. 8. 2015 - 13:03 Uhr

China's Great Fall?

Reality Check and nervous financial graphs in Beijing.

China’s Great Fall?
Is the next global financial crash going to happen in China? There have been many warning signs in recent weeks that all is not well with Chinese markets. There has been a general slowdown in growth and this has essentially spooked investors. So much so, that many investors seem to be pulling their money out of the country. Shares were down 8%, experiencing their largest losses on the stock market since 2007.

One of the great laws of market economics is that after a steep rise, expect a fall. So is this what is set to happen, after all China has experienced an amazing growth over the last 20 years? And if things go wrong financially, would there be much political fallout for the Beijing government on the horizon?

Having said all of that, the economy still expanded by 7% in the first few months of this year, which would be impressive for any other country. Compare that to the roughly 2% growth that Austria experienced in the same period and you might be tempted to say "what's the crisis?" So why are Chinese economists nervous about the graphs they are reading on their computer screens? We went to Beijing and spoke with the ORF's Raimund Löw to find out more.

You Stink!
It’s Day 4 of the You Stink campaign in Beirut. Things have escalated with the death of a protester and 40 people have ended up in hospital. So what’s behind these grass roots demonstrations that’s turned into a political crisis for the government? We spoke with Lebanon Watcher, Anthony Mills.