Learning English

Chinese economy slows

The Chinese economy continues to grow, but at the slowest rate in 25 years. What will be the impact on the global economy?

In this programme, Neil and Catherine explore the language being used by the world's media to discuss this story. Watch the programme and learn the words and phrases you need to talk about the news. Then see what you've learned with a short quiz.

Watch the video and complete the activity

The story

From a BBC report on 19th January 2016:

The Chinese economy grew by 6.9% last year.

It's the slowest rate of growth for the world's second largest economy in 25 years.

Concerns about the health of the Chinese economy, including shrinking foreign and domestic demand and the depreciation of its currency, has contributed to sharp falls on global markets.

Rico Hizon - BBC News

This slowdown in the Chinese economy has indeed impacted global economies and we'll have to wait and see what will happen in 2016 – if indeed we're going to see a further slowdown going forward.

Key words and phrases

pace
the speed at which something moves or happens

growth
the process of getting bigger

slump
a significant fall or reduction in something

To do

Try these questions to test your ability to use the words from this News Review.

Your challenge

Which of these is NOT a 'pacemaker'

a) A device put in the chest to help a person's heart beat at the correct speed.

b) The foot pedal in a car which makes it go faster.

c) A person in a race who sets the speed for the other participants.

The right answer is b) The foot pedal in a car which makes it go faster. We do not call this a pacemaker. In British English we call this an accelerator.

More

Learn more about this story in News Report.

End of Session 2

Join us in Session 3 for Lingohack - our video which teaches you words from the news using the latest BBC World News bulletins.