China growth slows again; China slump ripples globally; Beggars on visit visa for Ramadan; Low interest and 'zombie companies'; Social media and social skills

1 China growth slows again (BBC) China's economic growth slowed in the April to June period, the second straight quarter of weaker expansion. The world's second biggest economy grew by 7.5% compared to the previous year, down from 7.7% in the January to March period, data showed. The figures were in line with analyst expectations.

After decades of blistering growth in China, analysts say authorities now seem ready to accept a slower pace of expansion. The government has set a target of 7.5% growth for the whole of 2013, which would mark the lowest rate of expansion in more than two decades. A slowdown in economic activity in China has a global impact as companies that sell to China may see revenues suffer. Countries including Australia, Brazil and others in South East Asia have seen huge profits in recent years because of Chinese demand for natural resources.

The fall in demand from China has already had an impact on the prices of many commodities. Some analysts question whether China's growth rate might dip still further later in the year. Other data showed growth in factory output had slowed to 9.3% for the first half of the year, down 0.2% from the first three months of the year.

2 China slump ripples globally (Alex Frangos & Eric Bellman in The Wall Street Journal) As the numbers pile up showing China's sizzling growth cooling down, industries world-wide—from German paper-cutter makers to Indonesian palm-oil exporters—are confronting an altered landscape of winners and losers. The ones that benefited the most from China's rise are now being hurt. Others, aiming at China's 1.3 billion consumers, are faring better.

China's second-quarter gross domestic product showed the economy expanded 7.5% from the year earlier, slower than the 7.7% growth in the first quarter. China is trying to pull off a tricky rebalancing. It hopes to reshape its economy to be less reliant on construction and heavy industry, and more reliant on consumer spending. This is sparking optimism among industries such as car makers and food producers.

The deceleration is particularly hard on commodities producers—the biggest beneficiaries of China's boom. "The truth is that the China resources boom is over," Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, said in a speech. The unemployment rate in Australia, a mining powerhouse, is 5.7%, its highest in four years. While China's slowing growth hurts in places like Australia, it also means lower energy and raw-materials prices for the rest of the world. This, in turn, has tempered inflation, which has helped make it possible for central banks to stimulate struggling economies.

The US hasn't felt China's slowdown in part because demand for some of the top exports to China—airplanes and high-tech computer goods—has remained strong. China is set to contribute 13% of global economic activity this year, compared with 5% in 2006. So even at a slower growth, China's effect world-wide is significant. A more serious decline in China's growth rate would reverberate around the world. One risk is that Chinese firms, which are reluctant to lay off workers, would be forced to cut staff, hurting spending at home and undercutting the goal of shifting toward a consumer-driven economy.

3 Beggars on visit visa for Ramadan (Amira Agarib in Khaleej Times) At least 29 beggars who had entered Dubai on visit visas to make the most of the holy month of Ramadan — with one turning down a job offer — have been arrested as part of the Dubai Police’s Ramadan anti-begging campaign. The beggars often beg before Maghrib and Taraweeh prayers as they think no policemen would be around at that time. One person said he had offered a beggar a job but the man refused and left the scene.

In one such case, a beggar had kept fliers on car windscreens saying “Please help me”, along with a mobile number. The police arrested the beggar and was transferred to the Dubai Public Prosecution. Colonel Rashid bin Saree, Director of the General Department of Tourism Security at the Dubai Police, pointed out the beggars often insisted on money and stared at wallets to make people feel for them and give them more money.

Some people have complained that they had received angry responses from beggars if they gave them Dh10. Bin Saree stated  that though a number of arrested claimed to be sick all were found to be in good health, but came to the UAE on visit visa to beg during Ramadan.

4 Low interest and ‘zombie companies’ (Jennifer Rankin in The Guardian) Britain's economy is littered with "zombie companies" that are surviving only because of low interest rates and will go bust when economic conditions change, Vince Cable has warned. The business secretary said UK company law needed reform ahead of a "significant" number of insolvencies. He also announced a review into whether rogue company directors were cynically misusing insolvency laws to wipe out their debts before re-opening a bankrupt company under a different name.

"There are a lot of companies, like households, which are currently surviving because interest rates are very low and there is going to come a point when we are going to have to face reality," Cable said. "We are going to get insolvencies in that situation and we want to make sure the insolvency process works better."

"You do have these so-called phoenix companies when owners cynically shut down their companies in order to wipe out their debts and start again the following day under a slightly different name," Cable said. "Where there is evidence of that kind of serial behaviour, acting against the interest of legitimate parties like creditors, we want to make sure that is properly taken into account in the company disqualification process."

To improve transparency in the boardroom, the government wants a public registry of "beneficial company owners", to stop the true owners of a business concealing their identity. Although UK law requires directors to be registered at Companies House, some owners avoid this by creating complex structures in foreign climes, even paying another person to borrow their name. The government wants to examine individuals who rent out their names, so-called "nominee directors". It has identified 350 individuals who each own more than 100 companies – and in some cases 1,000 companies.

5 Social media and social skills (Kim Thompson in San Francisco Chronicle) The quick social-network communication methods bypass the process of developing chemistry through face-to-face interaction.  This phenomenon might explain why those new to the workplace can find carrying on a conversation and reading nonverbal cues challenging. Knowing how to successfully communicate has little to do with a selected profession or field of interest and everything to do with the skill of building rapport.

Instant communication is interfering with the skills that make us human, the face-to-face interactions that help us utilize all the levels of communication — verbal and nonverbal. If you don’t learn the skill of reading nonverbal cues, your career opportunities could suffer because as social beings, we are not meant to stay isolated behind a screen of contacts.

The price you can pay for relying too heavily on instant communication is the lack of developing good relationship skills, which are the skills you need the most throughout your career. A great way to expand your social networking is to turn your online contacts into face-to-face meetings. Instant communication is a great tool, but be careful that it doesn’t become such a habit that you would rather text than meet someone in person.