American clients of Ningbo Frank Electric Co., a Chinese manufacturer of kettles and other household appliances, have been placing orders several months in advance, salesman John Zheng said. “It all looks so good at the moment,” he said. “But it won’t continue.” China released a gloomy report card Friday on its economy’s performance, with the rate of economic growth sliding to 6.5% in the third quarter, the slowest pace since the global financial crisis. Just ahead of the release—and after Chinese stocks fell 3% Thursday, taking losses to nearly 25% since the start of the year—the country’s top financial regulators all came out with comments to calm investors. The rare joint effort was followed up by an interview published by the official Xinhua News Agency with China’s economic czar, Vice Premier Liu He, who played down the impact of the trade conflict and suggested low stock prices represent a […]