For the past two decades, China has conditioned global companies and markets to anticipate big government spending at any hint of an economic slowdown. Now, as growth sputters, Beijing is taking only small steps toward boosting its ailing economy. On Monday, China’s central bank cut two key interest rates, as fresh economic data showed a range of economic activity slowing in July. Unlike in the U.S., interest rates in China have a limited effect, and economists said the move would likely do little to encourage further borrowing by households and businesses. The world’s second-largest economy is facing headwinds ahead of a Communist Party gathering where Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to break with recent precedent and claim a third term . The country’s zero-Covid policy is restraining domestic consumption. A mortgage revolt over properties unfinished by heavily indebted developers has dragged the property sector […]