Time to push spending - and social reforms

The same figure can have a multitude of meanings. I mean China's GDP. In boom times, an annualized 10 percent growth would be seen to be on the edge of overheating, if not danger.

But in a time of crisis, as the world is in now, it is seen as a confidence booster for commentators from even distant lands.

Quarter after quarter, China's GDP growth has slowed down this year, from 10.6 percent in the first quarter, to 10.1 percent in the second, and then, in a major dip, to 9 percent in the third. Together, they made the country's GDP growth so far (in the first three quarters) 9.9 percent.