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Economy

Japan's four lessons for debt addict China

Beijing must clamp down on credit and pounce on shadow banking to avert a crisis

| China
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Credit bubbles and real estate debt all sound very familiar.   © Reuters

Moody's certainly knows how to change the subject. In the 26 days since it downgraded China, the first cut since 1989, the market sentiment pendulum has swung from boom to bust.

It was not as controversial as Standard & Poor's slashing Washington's credit rating in 2011. But Moody's sent Beijing into full-rant mode, with the Finance Ministry calling the downgrade "absolutely groundless" and state media claiming it "underestimated the country's resolve to restructure its economy." Beijing's response was itself troubling, smacking as much of denial as of historical amnesia. The history in question is Japan's.

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