China’s export and import growth likely cooled in January, a Reuters poll showed, underlining a broader slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, though the Lunar New Year holiday effect may overstate the soft momentum. Weakness in China’s imports could be bad news for the rest of the world, particularly for major commodity exporters such as Australia. HSBC estimates China will overtake the United States to become the world’s biggest importer this year. Bank loans in China are expected to see a typical seasonal surge in January as banks get fresh lending quotas at this time every year, underlining relatively stable credit demand from the real economy. Many economists expect a soft slowdown in China’s economy in 2014 as policymakers try to embrace slower but better-quality growth to cut reliance on investment and pursue sustainable development. “Given the stable economic situation last year and increasing expectations over […]