China’s economic growth slumped to a six-year low as manufacturing and retail sales cooled in the first quarter, stepping up pressure for Beijing to keep its overhaul of the world’s second-largest economy on track. Growth declined to 7 percent from the previous quarter’s 7.3 percent, official data showed Wednesday. That was China’s weakest performance since the global financial crisis, when growth fell to 6.1 percent in the first quarter of 2009. Much of the decline has been self-imposed as communist leaders try to steer China to more sustainable growth driven by domestic consumption following the past decade’s explosive expansion based on trade and investment. But an unexpectedly sharp downturn over the past year has fueled fears of job losses and social tensions. “China’s economy is slowing at a rate with which the government is probably uncomfortable,” said Tom Rafferty of the Economist Intelligence Unit in a […]