China's economy is already in a so-called “hard landing,”according to Adrian Mowat, JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s chief Asianand emerging-market strategist.

“If you look at the Chinese data, you should stop debating abouta hard landing,” Mowat, who is based in Hong Kong, said at aconference in Singapore yesterday. “China is in a hard landing. Carsales are down, cement production is down, steel production isdown, construction stocks are down. It's not a debate anymore, it'sa fact.” His team was a runner-up for best Asian equity strategistsin a 2011 Institutional Investor magazine poll.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.6 percent yesterday, themost since Nov. 30, after Premier Wen Jiabao said home prices arestill “far from a reasonable level.” His comments fueled concernthe government will maintain restrictions on the property marketfor an extended period even as the curbs threaten to slow economicgrowth.