China’s economy has “cooled rapidly” and will slump further over the next year, according to World Bank forecasts. The World Bank on Dec. 22 said it expects China’s inflation-adjusted GDP to grow at 8 percent, lowering from a projection of 8.5 percent in June. It further cut the country’s growth forecast for next year to 5.1 percent from 5.4 percent. The projection would mark the weakest growth for China since 1990, with the exception of the pandemic year. Harsh COVID-19 curbs, a year of wide-ranging crackdowns on the private sector, and pressure to phase down coal usage amid an energy crisis have weighed down on China’s economy. The faltering property sector, once a main pillar of China’s economy, makes the country’s growth outlook look even grimmer. The “traditional playbook of boosting growth through infrastructure and real estate investment has run its course,” the World Bank said in a press release. …