chinese in work stimulus

BEIJING/TOKYO - China, the engine of world economic growth in recent years, saw industrial output growth shrink to a record low at the start of the year, but a continued surge in bank lending in February spurred optimism the economy could rebound soon. Chinese officials have rushed cash to big infrastructure projects, from railways to power plants, but are still struggling to fill a vacuum left by a collapse in exports, which plunged 25.6 percent in February from a year earlier.

"Worse-than-expected exports growth is having a clear impact on overall activity growth," Yu Song and Helen Qiao, economists at Goldman Sachs, said in a note. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan's biggest bank, was the latest large bank to shore up a capital base depleted by a tumbling stock markets. It raised nearly $1 billion from a sale of preferred securities.

The issue will put MUFJ's total fundraising at about 1.3 trillion yen ($13 billion) since last year, which includes new stock and a subordinated loan. The global economy may shrink 1-2 percent this year, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said, as revised Japanese data confirmed the world's No. 2 economy suffered its deepest slump since the oil shock of 1974. The latest grim snapshot of the world economy highlights the need for urgent action as G20 finance chiefs prepare to meet in Britain.

but doubts have emerged over whether they will make much headway due to divisions above how best to fight the downturn. "We haven't seen numbers like that since World War Two, which really means the Thirties. So these are serious and dangerous times," Zoellick told Britain's Daily Mail. Asian share markets mostly fell, as a burst of optimism fuelled by Citigroup revealing it had been profitable for the first two months of the year proved short lived.