US First Lady in China

Image: Feng Li / Getty Images

US first lady Michelle Obama with her daughters Malia (right) and Sasha (centre), at the Museum of Terracotta Warriors during a visit to the historic excavation site at Xi’an in China. While Michelle dubbed the visit a goodwill tour, it turned out to be a more substantive one as she raised issues of minority rights and internet access

$22,980,000,000 is China’s trade deficit in February. The slowdown threat in the world’s second-largest economy is worrying many countries, especially the US. Industrial output in China has declined, so have property sales. Premier Li Keqiang warned that the economy faces severe challenges in 2014, yet the government has kept its target unchanged, and is aiming for a 7.5 percent growth.