What We're Reading

During the last few years, a lot of hype has been heaped on the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). With their large populations and rapid growth, these countries, so the argument goes, will soon become some of the largest economies in the world – and, in the case of China, the largest of all by as early as 2020. But the Brics, as well as many other emerging-market economies – have recently experienced a sharp economic slowdown. So, is the honeymoon over?

Brazil's GDP grew by only 1% last year, and may not grow by more than 2% this year, with its potential growth barely above 3%. Russia's economy may grow by barely 2% this year, with potential growth also at around 3%, despite oil prices being around $100 a barrel. India had a couple of years of strong growth recently (11.2% in 2010 and 7.7% in 2011) but slowed to 4% in 2012. China's economy grew by 10% a year for the last three decades, but slowed to 7.8% last year and risks a hard landing. And South Africa grew by

BEIJING—By lowering China's growth target to 7.5% this year, Premier Wen Jiabao has signaled that an era of supercharged expansion may be coming to an end, a shift with profound implications for countries like Australia and Brazil that have prospered from red-hot Chinese demand for commodities.

The NPC will set key economic priorities for 2012 but as the WSJ's Aaron Back tells Deborah Kan, it's often what goes on behind the scenes that's most telling.

China has announced it is lowering its target growth forecast to 7.5% from 8%. Not a big move but enough to send a few tremors through the world's financial markets. Andrew Peaple and Martin Essex discuss what this means for the global economy. Photo: AP

The adjustment suggests that China's leaders have reached a comfort level with slower growth, and that they don't intend to stimulate the economy through state-led investment, as they have in the past. Instead, they plan to let a long-touted shift away from expor