NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- China's central bank slashed Wednesday its one-year benchmark lending and deposit interest rates by 27 basis points and the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points. The measures come after western central banks moved in concert Wednesday to cut global interest rates. The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England were among those that reduced rates. "First, this is a kind of coordinated move as China already called for global cooperation to deal with the current crisis," wrote economists at Merrill Lynch in a note Wednesday. "Second, China needs to stabilize domestic asset markets and to prop up economic growth. Export growth will surely slow further, and China is also experiencing a downturn of the real estate cycle."
