Global economic slowdown is near: investment guru

XIAMEN -- Another economic slowdown will impact the world including China in the next two years as the United States and other major economies halt the printing of artificial money, according to investment guru Jim Rogers Saturday.

Addressing a forum ahead of the 17th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, Rogers said, "Quantitative easing and money printing is going to end in one way or the other. It is going to cause problems in the world economy. Sometime in the next year or two, we are going to have another economic slowdown."

Rogers, co-founder of Quantum Fund, said the simultaneous monetary easing and currency debasing in all major western economies was "the first time in history" for this to happen.

The "artificial sea of liquidity" has triggered inflation in some countries and caused currency instability, he said, citing examples of the sharply depreciated Japanese yen, and currencies of Indonesia and Turkey.

He hoped that central banks will stop monetary easing. "Even if they don't, the market will say we won't take your garbage paper money anymore."

But he warned that the withdrawal will cause problems and everybody will be affected, including China.

"America, Europe and Japan, these economies are ten times bigger than China. Even if China is doing everything right, it will still be affected by what's happening in the rest of the world," he added.