China’s slowdown is by design, it’s worth noting. For years, the world’s second-biggest economy has been trying to shrink its manufacturing sector and expand its consumer services, a transition aimed at putting it on a more sustainable, if slower, path to growth.

But obstacles abound. Perhaps the most troublesome has been China’s long frothy property market, which is responsible for about 20 percent of the overall economy.

-- CBS Money Watch on April 17