Next downturn is coming soon, says economist

SHANGHAI - Even as a number of economists are predicting that another economic downturn will occur in the United States between 2012 and 2013, a Chinese economist is saying the troubles will come much sooner.

Wang Jian, an economist famous for making provocative statements, thinks the next downturn will be seen after July this year and will be even worse than the one that hobbled the US economy in 2008.

"After the sub-prime mortgage troubles, public data show that the US government froze its toxic assets between 2009 and 2010," Wang, secretary-general of the China Society of Macroeconomics, an affiliate of the National Development and Reform Commission, told the China Securities Journal on Monday.