China is beginning to admit that slow growth in the U.S. would be a significant enough drag to badly damage its exports and hurt its economy. "If U.S. consumption really comes down, that's bad news for us. That will have a pretty severe impact on our exports," Zhang Tao, deputy head of the international department of the People's Bank of China, told a group including Reuters.

Any slowdown is likely to hit the Chinese stock markets hard. Despite a recent pullback, the Hang Seng Index is up over 60% in the last two years while the S&P has barely risen. The Shanghai Composite is up over 300% during that period.

Downward pressure on China shares could affect many stocks listed in the U.S. Among the most vulnerable are probably those that have risen the fastest. That would include Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU), which is up about 130% in the last year, and China Mobile (NYSE: CHL), which is up over 70%.

If a U.S. recession hits China, the markets there may have seen their best days.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com

China says slower U.S. growth could knock it down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.