In the past I have raised the question of whether China is headed for a slowdown. It's one of the big issues for 2008 and the answer is important for businesses and economies around the world, particularly the US which imports a quarter of a trillion dollars-worth of goods a year from there. With new leadership on China's state council, they could slow their economy by introducing fiscal measures with real power, like blocking exports of mobile phones, for example.

Still, so far the early forecasts for this year are that China will start to flex its muscles. If there is a slowdown in China this year, it's unlikely to be that large although there are warnings of a correction in China's tear-away stock market which is trading at excessively high price multiples of more than 40 times. If there is a reality check, things could get ugly.

That's what drew my attention to the insights from the experts at INSEAD. You can watch the video on the site as well.

The folks at INSEAD say China is likely to keep growing but not as fast as before. With every industrialized economy facing a slowdown this year, it's hard to see how China can escape the risk. Still, as they say at INSEAD, growth is likely to be strong for at least the next 10 years. After that, it's a different story.