AS per the official data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, Beijing, China's longest streak of expansion below 8 percent in at least 20 years is sending a message to suppliers and investors around the world to get used to slower growth in the second biggest economy. The 7.7 percent increase in first-quarter gross domestic product from a year earlier marked the first time in data going back two decades that four periods in a row have seen growth of less than 8 percent. While this is a shock in the short term, it is part of the growing up of China's economy. Investment in productive capacity lacks the knock-on effects on GDP it once had because of reduced overseas demand for the products of the nation's factories.

A sustained shift to a lower growth gear would affect everything from iron ore demand in Australia to the fortunes of companies including carmaker General Motors Co. (GM) ,who are counting on China to drive profits. Besides, Moody's Investors Service lowered its outlook for China's credit rating to stable from positive, saying the nation has made less progress than anticipated in reducing risks from local government debt and credit expansion that may harm growth.

As China's expansion fails to pick up steam, global finance chiefs from the Group of 20 nations gathering in Washington later this week may find little ground to criticize Japan's efforts to stoke its economy, with Europe facing the risk of blame for overzealous fiscal cuts.