New Delhi, July 29 -- Given the general banality of Chinese Communist Party pronouncements, Beijing's announcements this month on the economy amounted to a bombshell.

Not only were GDP growth estimates lowered, the target for new urban jobs was done away with altogether. No wonder. Of the 180 million rural migrants who were seeking work last year, mostly in cities, almost 50 million returned to their villages without jobs. Already anaemic retail sales declined in May. Fixed asset investment is down for the first five months of the year.

The main reason is the slow bursting of China's property bubble and the resulting decline in infrastructure spending, even as consumers and local governments cut back.

For good or ill, China's rise over...