China is likely to post its weakest growth since the global financial crisis in the fourth quarter as its property market cooled, reinforcing expectations the government will have to roll out more stimulus measures to avoid a sharper slowdown. Data on Tuesday is expected to show the world’s second-largest economy grew 7.2 percent in the October-December quarter from a year earlier, slowing from 7.3 percent in the previous quarter, a Reuters poll showed. That would be its weakest performance since the first quarter of 2009, when the growth rate tumbled to 6.6 percent and a sudden collapse in world trade threw some 20 million Chinese out of work. Full-year economic growth in 2014 is almost certain to undershoot the government’s target of 7.5 percent and mark the weakest expansion in 24 years, adding to concerns about shaky global demand. With the property market likely to remain […]