Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007 & with words economic+growth. 2 news.

CHINA should take measures to cool economic growth and cut energy consumption, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission said. "Current economic growth, 11.5 percent or above 11 percent, is too fast and at too high a cost," Han Yongwen, the planning agency's secretary general, said at a conference in Beijing on Saturday. The world's fourth largest economy grew by more than 11 percent through the first three quarters of 2007, Bloomberg News said. Chinese government is trying to cool growth in the world's fastest-growing major economy without triggering a sudden slowdown that may cost jobs and leave factories idle. Japanese companies including Toyota Motor Corp urged China in September to slow the pace of its expansion on concern overheating in Japan's biggest trading partner may cause economic turmoil. "The central bank should use interest rate policies more boldly to damp investment expansion and asset price increases," Lin Yifu, head of

EUROPEAN stocks retreated last week on concern losses from the United States subprime-lending market are spreading through the region's broader economy. Vinci SA, the world's biggest builder, Ericsson AB and Anglo American Plc led declines of companies most affected by changes in the pace of economic growth. UBS AG, Europe's largest bank, and Barclays Plc fell after Goldman, Sachs & Co cut its recommendation on European banks. "We're maybe at the tip of the iceberg," said Franck Hennin, who helps oversee US$7.3 billion at Richelieu Finance in Paris. "The contagion from the US that we anticipated is becoming a reality. Many expected a year-end rally. Now the market is back-tracking." The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index fell 0.8 percent last week, led by construction and materials firms. The measure is heading for a 0.2 percent drop this year, weighed down by banks and financial-services companies on credit-markets losses, Bloomberg News reported. Goldman Sachs