We know that.  So, of course, does President Xi Jinping.
It is one of the major issues - shadows even - hanging over his visit to the United States.
After an average annual growth rate of 10% for three decades, that pace has cooled substantially.  Last year it was 7.4%.
There are many economists who are profoundly sceptical about China's official data, who think the true figure is a good deal lower.
For next year the IMF forecasts 6.8%. And the slowdown was bound to happen.
The IMF described the transition under way in China as "moving to a 'new normal', characterized by slower yet safer and more sustainable growth".
A new normal is needed because the forces behind China's previous dynamism are weakening.  The ageing population means there's a limit to the contribution that a growing labour force can make to the economy.
All that previous strong growth means the technological gap compared with the rest of the world has narrowed. That in turn limits the scope for rapid gains from catching up.
Investment is another source of growth, which adds to the productive capacity of the economy. But China's investment level is already extremely high. Indeed IMF research suggested even in 2012 that it was excessive.
Why excessive? Because it diverts resources from other sectors of the economy including household spending, and if a country over invests an increasing number of projects are likely to be economically inefficient.
The question that has been worrying financial markets intermittently for the past few weeks has been - will the transition be a smooth one, or will China suffer what's called a hard landing, that's to say an abrupt slowdown or even a recession?
The answer really does matter for the rest of us.
China is by one measure the biggest economy on the planet. It accounts for 17% of global economic activity.
The US economy is almost as big but is not growing so rapidly. Things are likely to stay that way for years or even decades after China has settled to a more sustainable rate of growth.
That means that China's impact on global growth is larger, and so is the potential contribution it can make to increased demand for goods produced by other countries.
So hard or soft landing really is a big deal. Which can we expect?
Views among economists vary - when don't they? There is one very influential voice who has set out a pretty gloomy judgement, Willem Buiter, chief economist at the giant financial firm Citigroup, formerly of the Bank of England and the London School of Economics.
He says: "We believe that there is a high and rising likelihood of a Chinese, emerging market and global recession scenario playing out."
Now there's a debate to be had about what the word "recession" means, especially when applied to emerging economies and still more so for the global economy.
Mr Buiter's definition is based on an economy's potential to grow. He concludes that growth of less than 2% for at least a year is a global recession. The threshold for China is 2.5%.
He is one of the sceptics about China's data, so his view is that the Chinese economy is already closer to that than the official figures suggest.
For the world economy he reckons there's a 40% chance of a moderate recession, with a 15% chance of a more severe downturn and a financial crisis.
If it does happen, he says, it's most likely the world be dragged into a recession by slow growth in a number of key emerging economies, especially China: "We consider China to be at high and rapidly rising risk of a cyclical hard landing."
Why? Many of the classical warning signs are present, he says - excess capacity in an increasing number of industries, too much borrowing and debt, and episodes of "irrational exuberance" in asset markets, recently property and the stock market.
He says: "This is the classical recipe for a recession in capitalist market economies."
If it does happen then it would surely affect many others.  And there are other emerging economies already in recession including two large ones in the shape of Brazil and Russia.
China is among the most important export destinations for many countries - number one for South Korea (more than a quarter of exports), Saudi Arabia and Iran.
For the largest economies, China comes in as the second biggest export market for Japan, fourth for the US, and for Germany it's second among markets outside the European Union.
Even countries with little direct trade with China could easily feel the effects of a hard landing, if they are suppliers to countries that do sell directly to China, or if they export commodities whose price in international markets is affected by weakened Chinese demand.
Take two key industrial commodities, crude oil and copper.
The price of crude oil has fallen by more than half since June last year. There are supply factors behind that - shale oil in the US and the unwillingness of Saudi Arabia and others to curtail production as they might have done in the past.
But weaker-than-expected growth in demand from China is another element in the price fall.
Copper is a key raw material for the construction industry. It's used extensively in electrical installations, and China's building boom has been hungry for copper.
Its price is also down by half, in this case from 2011. China's slowdown is the key factor.
So that's the case for being gloomy.
But there are some who are more upbeat about the outlook. In a recent note to clients, the London consultancy Capital Economics wrote: "In contrast to the widespread doom and gloom about China's immediate economic outlook, we think growth has already stabilised after a slowdown at the start of the year, and that there are good reasons to expect stronger growth in the months ahead."
Ahead of his visit to the US, President Xi told the Wall Street Journal: "The Chinese economy is still operating within the proper range."
His host, President Barack Obama, must be hoping he is right and that it stays that way. He's not the only one.


A man has been arrested after a woman's body was found in Gateshead.

Alice Ruggles was found with serious injuries in Rawling Road at about 18:30 BST on Wednesday. The 24-year-old, originally from Leicestershire, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.
Northumbria Police said the case had been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission because of previous contact with the victim.
A cordon remains in place at the scene.
A police spokesman said: "This is believed to be an isolated incident and those involved are known to each other. There is not believed to be any danger to the wider public."
Ms Ruggles' family released a statement paying tribute to her and said she "had an infectious personality and an incredible sense of humour".
"She was kind, clever and beautiful, we are struggling to come to terms with the fact that she is not with us anymore.
"She loved life, loved her friends and loved her job. She had so much to live for. Nothing, nothing can ever replace her."


"We are ready and confident and, yeah, let's stick it to the Poms."

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Those were the words of Australian team pursuit star Jack Bobridge, talking on the eve of London 2012.
He could well have been talking for the rest of their track squad too, such were the expectations placed on Anna Meares and co, but it is the Poms who have ended up putting the Aussies in their place - which, so far, has definitely not been on the top of the podium.
Many of the 10 Olympic track cycling events were seen as a two-horse race or 'The Ashes on Wheels'.
However, four days into the competition and with only four golds left up for grabs, if you wanted to continue the cricketing analogy you would say the Aussies are heading for a series whitewash.
"All this British success is down to having the best riders and the best system to go with it. The preparation from the coaches has been spot on and the results show that. The highlight for me was the men's team pursuit because they are four guys I have known for a long time. For me to have seen Peter Kennaugh grow up and win gold was wicked, it is the first Olympic gold medal for the Isle of Man and he is part of a team that trained together and was built together."
Team GB's women's team pursuit triumph on Saturday brought the home total in three days in the London Velodrome to four golds from the first five events and Ed Clancy added bronze in the omnium on Sunday.
The haul would be even bigger, too, had keirin winner Victoria Pendleton and her partner Jess Varnish not been denied a shot at gold in the final of the women's team sprint for making an illegal change-over in their semi-final.
Australia's tally? One silver, from Bobridge and his team-mates, and a bronze.
Nobody else can get near Team GB either, on the track or in the medal table. France, Germany and China are the only other nations with more than one medal in the velodrome and, using standard London Tube parlance, the message to GB's rivals is becoming "please mind the gap".
The haul has exceeded expectations for most people, apart from British Cycling's performance director Dave Brailsford.
"I think we knew we were competitive coming into the Games," Brailsford told BBC Sport. "We have got our timing right again, and we are peaking coming into the Games, which is the important thing.
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"The coaches have done a brilliant job. It was always going to be tough because the competition is fierce, but I wouldn't say I am surprised by what we have done, put it that way."
Why is the difference so big? Australia's high-performance manager Paul Brosnan told me that their coaching staff will not discuss their team's results - or Britain's for that matter - in London until the Games are over. Their travelling press corp are hopeful results will improve but their mood at the moment is bleak.
Bobridge is keeping quiet too. "He is a pretty chirpy lad and usually up for a bit of banter but he hasn't been saying much," said GB team pursuiter Peter Kennaugh after beating him to gold.
But Australia are not the only ones trailing in Team GB's wake. Italy's track cycling head coach Marco Villa told BBC Sport: "They are phenomenal. In the last few months we had started to see Britain come back to challenge Australia to be the best team, but so far their success has been unbelievable.
"To peak at the right time like they are doing is not as easy as you think, otherwise everybody would do it. You need a system where the coach knows the rider, and the rider knows himself.
"If you have talent to go with it, that is how you build champions, and Britain have many champions on their team."
"I don't think GB success on this level was anticipated. The only track gold medal really nailed on for them before the Games began was the woman's team pursuit. Our prospects looked like they were on shaky ground last winter and I know the management - Dave Brailsford and Shane Sutton - were wobbling and wondering if it was going to happen for us here. The fact they have turned it round comes down the hard work of the coaches. They have learned from their mistakes, and they have great athletes to work with. Team Sky is helping Team GB and vice versa. Australia? They just have not brought their form with them at all."
How many, precisely, remains to be seen. New Zealand endurance coach Dayle Cheatley feels it might be difficult to stop the GB juggernaut now it is rumbling around the track.
"I don't think it is surprising they have come out and dominated proceedings in the first few days. They showed at the Beijing Olympics that they are the number one nation in the world.
"How can other countries compete? Well, there is a big budget gap with what our set-up has, so it is very difficult.
"I can't really comment on the Australia track programme but it is public knowledge about how much the funding that the GB programme gets. All credit to them, though. They use the money wisely, and they get the results."
Credit for that comes back round to the man who helped start the cycling revolution on these shores, Brailsford.
His latest project, the commercially sponsored British road cycling team Team Sky which launched at the start of 2010, was viewed in some quarters as being a potential distraction to success on the track at these Games, especially when track results dipped in 2011.
Instead, by allowing Britain's top coaches and riders such as gold medal-winning team pursuiter Geraint Thomas to to be part of both projects, it has brought success on the road and track, leaving other nations envious of the dual set-up.
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"Britain have good riders and the other ingredient is focus, which is down to the whole team," added Villa. "With Team Sky as well, the British have put a superb all-round cycling system together. Naturally we would like to do it too but it is just not possible.
"In Italy we also have good young riders but we lose them to the road teams. We have to show to our young riders what the British are doing - they work for the Olympics every four years but they are professional road racers too."
The gold rush in the velodrome, to go with Bradley Wiggins's historic victory in this year's Tour de France (not to mention his Olympic time trial triumph too) is vindication for Brailsford that his grand plan has come off.
He explained to me this week: "When I sat down with UK Sport to talk about setting up a road team too, I said 'here we are folks, here's a brilliant idea - we can have Team Sky too, I can run this whole programme. Don't worry I'm not stupid, I'm not going to hinder one thing or the other'.
"The first reaction I got was to be interrogated about it, with everybody telling me it wasn't possible. UK Sport commissioned a Deloitte report and also held a review to see if I was capable of doing both, which I saw as a waste of money.
"All they had to do was have a bit of faith in me and I would repay them. I've never not succeeded and I am not going to stop succeeding now - and I think they could have shown me a bit more trust."
The events of the past month mean Brailsford should never have the same problem again. Meanwhile, everybody else is playing catch-up - on the track and on the road too.


Disgraced former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said comparisons between himself and US President-elect  Donald Trump are "obvious".

Berlusconi told an Italian daily that Americans had chosen Mr Trump, "now let him go to work".
Both men both entered politics from the world of business, Berlusconi a media magnate and Mr Trump a property tycoon.
Legal battles have dogged Mr Trump but unlike Berlusconi, he has no criminal convictions.
Aged 70, the man who defeated Hillary Clinton at Tuesday's polls is one of America's most famous and colourful billionaires, with a net worth of $3.7bn (Â£2.9bn; â‚¬3.4bn), according to Forbes business magazine.
Berlusconi, 80, served four terms as prime minister before his criminal convictions in 2013 and 2015. Forbes values him and his family at $5.9bn.
Asked what they had in common, Berlusconi told Italian daily Corriere della Sera (in Italian): "There are some obvious similarities even though my story as an entrepreneur is very different to Trump's, whom I've never met."
The Italian politician did not go into detail but similarities he may have had in mind include:
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Berlusconi and the bunga bunga
What are the allegations against Trump?
Trump lewd video on women: Transcript
Berlusconi says Obama is 'tanned'
Italians have not been slow to pick up on the comparisons between the incoming US president and their former prime minister, fusing the two on social media as "Trumpusconi".
In the interview, Berlusconi stopped short of welcoming Mr Trump's victory but the centre-right politician explained why he thought Mrs Clinton had been defeated.
Mr Trump, he argued, "was elected by all Americans weary of an old political order".
This group had, he suggested, made a "mistake typical of all the left around the world" in "thinking that "'political correctness' was the way to keep close to people's needs".
A constitutional reform referendum due to be held in Italy on 4 December is being seen as a vote of confidence in the country's current Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi. He has threatened to resign if he loses the vote.
Opinion polls suggest he risks a narrow defeat and that would boost Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement.
Five Star's founder, ex-comic Beppe Grillo, has described Mr Trump's election victory as "the apocalypse for information, TV, the big newspapers, the intellectuals, the journalists".
Will Trump-style revolt engulf Europe?


Barcelona have signed Spain striker Paco Alcacer for 30m euros (£25.5m) from Valencia, with forward Munir El Haddadi going the other way on loan.

Valencia have the option of signing 20-year-old Munir for 12m euros (£10.2m) at the end of his loan next summer.
Alcacer, 23, is considered one of Spain's most promising young talents after scoring 30 La Liga goals in three years and has agreed a five-year deal.
He was made captain at the Mestalla Stadium under Gary Neville last season.
Alcacer's contract, which includes a 100m euro (£85m) buy-out clause, could be worth another 2m euros (£1.7m) in "variables" to Valencia.
Luis Enrique's Barcelona have spent most of the summer trying to sign a forward to complement their front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.
He is the sixth summer signing for the Spanish champions, following goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen, defenders Lucas Digne and Samuel Umtiti, and midfielders Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes, who has also arrived from Valencia.
Barcelona accidentally ran a competition on their website to win a signed Alcacer jersey on Monday, before they had revealed his signing.


The German Cartel Office has fined several supermarket chains €90.5m (£71m) for fixing the price of some beers, sweets and coffee.

Retailers Edeka, Metro and Netto were fined for fixing the price of Beck's and other beers owned by brewing giant AB InBev.
Lidl was fined for the price-fixing of Haribo confectionery.
The cartel office said its six-year investigation into pricing agreements was now nearly complete.
It began in January 2010, when the office carried out dawn raids to gather information about illegal agreements between retailers and manufacturers.
So far, it has imposed fines totalling €242m over price-fixing involving confectionery, coffee, pet food, beer and body care products.
The Cartel Office said the brewer AB InBev, whose brands Beck's, Franziskaner and Hasseroeder were under particular investigation, and the retailer REWE Zentral escaped fines because they co-operated from early on in the investigation.
Andreas Mundt, president of the Cartel Office, said:  "In the sale of its premium beer brands, the brewery concerned agreed with retailers on several occasions to raise shop prices and co-ordinated the details between them, in particular reference dates and the level of the respective price increase.
"The retailers expected that the brewery would ensure that the price increase was simultaneously implemented by competing retailers. The ones suffering from such systematic price maintenance practices are the end consumers."
In a statement Metro said the "irregularities" had taken place at one of its procurement arms which has since been closed.
"We expressly regret these irregularities which date back quite some time. Such behaviour is not in line with the way we want to understand and operate our business," said a spokesperson.
Metro added that it made sure the failings were "eliminated long before the beginning of the investigations".
A fine was also imposed on German drugstore chain Rossmann for fixing the price of Melitta coffee products.
In its statement, the Cartel Office said a mitigating factor in the calculation of the fines had been the fact that, with the exception of Rossmann, settlements were reached with the retailers.
Rossmann appealed against its fine earlier this year.


Barnsley edged Fleetwood Town in a penalty shootout to book a Johnstone's Paint Trophy final date with Oxford at Wembley in April.

After the tie finished 2-2 on aggregate, Adam Hammill's spot-kick won the shootout 4-2, to book a first trip to the national stadium since 2008.
Conor Hourihane had put Barnsley ahead, slipping in from Sam Winnall's pass from the edge of the box.
Ashley Hunter equalised after smart footwork to send the game to penalties.
Fleetwood's Chris Maxwell saved from Josh Scowen, but Barnsley's Adam Davies followed suit for the visitors to deny home defender Conor McLaughlin.
Winnall's successful kick gave Barnsley the lead and once Amari'i Bell's penalty was kept out, Hammill netted to confirm the win.
League Two side Oxford knocked out Millwall over two legs to secure their place in the final on 3 April.


It was while watching a television report one evening in 1996 that Brazilian bricklayer Antonio Pereira de Oliveira began to have the first flickers of memories of an earlier life.

The story concerned a brutal conflict fought in the Amazon jungle 20 years earlier, when Brazil's military regime quashed an uprising of 80 left-wing rebels.
Reports of the conflict had been suppressed until after Brazil became a democracy but as families campaigned for justice for their disappeared relatives, the truth was slowly emerging.
The army's response in the final battle had been so belligerent, with the use of napalm, firebombs and torture, and with orders given for soldiers to execute guerrillas captured alive, that it was believed there was a not a single living survivor.
Except, it transpired, for Mr Oliveira, who until the end of that conflict had gone by his original name Micheas Gomes de Almeida, or - more frequently - by his nom de guerre, Zezinho do Araguaia.
He hid in the forest for years, surviving thanks to his intimate knowledge of nature before making a remarkable escape as the army closed in.
He then obtained documents in a false name and suppressed his memories of the whole episode, he told the BBC.
It took many visits to the region surrounding the Araguaia river, on the eastern fringe of the Amazon rainforest, for the 77-year-old to piece together his memories of that time.
A diminutive man with a mischievous smile, a glint in his eye and a miniature Brazilian flag sewn onto his shirt, he tells me his political activism dates way back.
He joined the Brazilian Communist Party in 1958, six years before the democratically elected president, Joao Goulart, was ousted by the military in a bloodless coup.
"My fight has always been about liberty," he recalls. "I wanted to imagine a country where people could live side by side without conflict."
From 1966 to 1967 he travelled with about 15 other activists to China, where they were given military training by Chinese Communist Party activists.
1964: Brazilian military takes power in a coup
1967: Rebels from the Brazilian Communist Party begin to embed in Araguaia
1972: Military deploys thousands of troops to crush the uprising
1974: All rebels are believed to have been arrested or killed
1985: Transition to democracy as military stands down
1996: Zezinho begins to recover his suppressed memories of the conflict
2015: Prosecutors file federal charges against two army officers.
They then travelled to the central Brazilian region of Araguaia, where they lived undercover for years at a time when hundreds of left-wing activists were killed and many more were tortured and disappeared by the military.
Their plan was to recruit local villagers to their cause, so they offered their services as doctors and teachers.
When the military discovered the plot, they sent in at least 3,000 soldiers.
By the conclusion of the final of three military campaigns in 1974, almost all the guerrillas except Zezinho had been killed.
Zezinho puts his survival down to his knowledge of the forest.
A descendent of the indigenous Surui tribe, he said: "I am alive thanks to what my father taught me."
"The most important value my family taught me was to respect and understand nature," he recalls. "Be that the animals, the insects, the vegetation or the rivers."
With nearly all the other rebels dead, he says he escaped by walking at least 650km (400 miles), always at night, to the state of Piaui.
After weeks of walking, he caught a bus to Sao Paulo.
There, he says he obtained false documents in the name of Oliveira.
He married, had two children and four grandchildren and continued to live under that false identity for the next 22 years.
He believes he suppressed his memories out of a need for self-preservation but was never diagnosed with any medical condition.
Discovering the truth was painful, he says, not least for his wife.
"She married Antonio Pereira de Oliveira," he says. "Now, officially, she is not married to me at all."
While it becomes clear that he still struggles to remember some details, his story has been verified by other rebels who escaped the forest before the final battle.
And now 40 years on, there is also a chance that justice may be served for some of his comrades who died in the forest.
Last year, charges were filed against two former army officers, Sebastiao Curio Rodrigues de Moura and Licio Maciel.
They have been accused of executing captured rebels and concealing their bodies.
So how does Zezinho feel about the soldiers, now similarly advanced in age, who could face trial?
"They are living archives of this story," he says.
"We have to rescue this story together while we are still alive. I am not angry, even though they killed my friends. Society can decide if they need to go to prison. I am just interested in rescuing the story."


Train commuters have had delays to their journeys after a man's body was found on a railway line on the outskirts of Edinburgh.

British Transport Police were called to the scene at Dalmeny at about 07:00 on Tuesday.
The man is believed to have been in his 70s and police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
A ScotRail spokeswoman said passengers "should expect some knock-on delays until around 11:30".
A spokeswoman for ScotRail said trains through Dalmeny station had been "subject to disruption".
She said: "Services are now returning to normal, but customers should expect some knock-on delays until around 11:30.
"Lothian Transport ticket acceptance is in place, and passengers can use bus services to travel on the route shown on their train ticket."


Udinese have sacked manager Stefano Colantuono nine games from the end of the season and replaced him with ex-QPR boss Luigi de Canio.

The club are 15th in Serie A, four points above the relegation zone after securing only one win from their last 11 games.
Colantuono, 53, was only appointed last June on a two-year contract.
De Canio, who signs a contract until the end of the season, previously managed Udinese from 1999 to 2001.
Their next match is away to seventh-placed Sassuolo on 20 March.


Britain must expand Heathrow, a "great airport" which connects the UK to global trade, George Osborne has said.

The economic case is "overwhelming" and the airport connects to the Northern Powerhouse, the former chancellor said.
Gatwick expansion could be considered, but it must not be at the expense of the west London airport, he tweeted.
A decision on which London airport should build a new runway is thought to be imminent, after years of argument and a delay because of the Brexit vote.
Mr Osborne, who is MP for Tatton in Cheshire, said in a series of tweets:
"Time for a decision on airports & go for Heathrow. Economic case overwhelming; connects Northern Powerhouse; ensures Britain is open to world.
"If we want Britain to be outward-looking, free-trading & global, we must expand the great airport that connects us to that world & that trade.
"We can consider Gatwick expansion. But not at the expense of Heathrow - and not in parallel or else, in practice, nothing will get built.
The former chancellor was replaced with Philip Hammond in July by incoming Prime Minister Theresa May in the wake of the UK's vote to leave the EU.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has said a decision over where to site a new runway in the south east of England will be taken "shortly".
Three plans have been in contention - a third runway at Heathrow; a new runway at Gatwick; and an extension to one of Heathrow's existing runways.
Heathrow looked close to being expanded in July 2015 after an official commission recommended it.
But the decision was delayed in December for further environmental studies. It was again put back in June after the EU referendum vote. A decision is expected this month.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening are among a number of prominent opponents of Heathrow expansion in the cabinet.


"Every now and then I’ll start a company because no-one is walking through my door and pitching it to me,” Andy Rubin tells the group of reporters invited in for “not your typical tech launch”.

He says - and I agree with him - that people are bored with the "incremental updates" offered by Samsung and Apple, and instead want a smartphone that really reflects who they are.
And so out of his pocket he pulls the Essential Phone, a device launched with little fanfare but plenty of expectation: even before Mr Rubin's company sold a single device, it was valued at more than $1bn.
The 55-year-old is best known for creating the most popular mobile operating system today, Google's Android. Here in Palo Alto, he leads a 100-or-so-strong team that estimates they have launched more than 50 successful devices between them, at places such as Apple and Google.
You can find the Essential team within the colourful offices of Playground, Mr Rubin’s investment group. Created in 2015, it funds promising hardware start-ups. Playground is an apt name - the first time I meet Niccolo De Masi, Essential’s president, is as he flies off the end of a slide.
Techies, eh?
Anyway.
We’re on the mezzanine, and Mr Rubin has the phone in his hand. There’s no logo on it, or indeed any branding whatsoever. It’s made from titanium, which is lighter and stronger than the aluminium most devices are made from - though the phone itself is heavier overall than, for example, the iPhone 7. Titanium shouldn't bend as much on impact, meaning fewer screen breaks.
It has a ceramic back-casing with a dual-lens camera that doesn’t protrude, so the device can lie flat on its back when resting on a table. There’s an almost-edge-to-edge screen, and, like Google’s Pixel phone, a nifty fingerprint reader on the back to unlock it quickly.
But what makes the Essential Phone different are the two small circular connectors found on its rear. These can be used to snap-on a range of different accessories. The first, a 360-camera, is being offered at a discount when you buy the phone (though they didn’t give me a proper chance to try it out, so I can’t vouch for how good it is).
The company has promised a new accessory at least once a month, but there’s no word what those other accessories might be, other than an unremarkable charging dock. It will be interesting to see where this add-on strategy takes them - you may remember that Project Ara, Google’s attempt at making a modular phone, was canned.
Third-parties will be able to make their own accessories, but it remains to be see how many will bother - Essential will have to sell enough phones to make it worth their while.
To help with this, US mobile carrier Sprint is on board. At its flagship stores, a huge display will be pushing the phone.
At $699 (£542), it sits among the high-end devices on the market - and we won’t be seeing any of the predatory pricing we’ve seen from the Chinese manufacturers who have taken on, with moderate success, Apple and Samsung.
So what does the phone have going for it? Most notably for me is simply how it looks and feels - this is the premium smartphone many Android users will have been waiting for. And it serves to highlight the opportunity missed by Google’s own Pixel, a phone that has struggled to sell significant numbers on account of it being rather unremarkable.
In contrast, the Essential Phone has a truly distinctive screen that stretches out across the entire device, save a tiny bezel.
The front-facing camera sits “inside" the screen, creating a little notch that I thought would be distracting, but actually makes a great deal of sense.
It uses up screen space currently wasted by most apps, and means icons showing battery life and signal are tucked away neatly. If you’re watching a video, or an app which needs that particular bit of screen (most don’t), everything moves down by a quarter of an inch so the picture isn’t interrupted.
Like the iPhone, Essential offers a dual-lens rear facing camera set-up - but with a slight twist. One of the phone's sensors is true monochrome (black and white), which when combined with the colour sensor offers superior quality in low-light - not to mention better black and white pictures which, as any photographer will tell you, isn’t just about putting a filter on.
So let’s return to the question I pose in the headline. Is the Essential Phone an essential purchase? Well, no. There’s nothing here that would tempt you to switch from what you currently use - especially if it means jumping from iOS to Android.
The problem I put to Mr Rubin is that nobody will know about this phone.
He says there won’t be a big event where “one person gets on stage and does a ‘ta-da!’”. You also won’t be seeing a huge advertising campaign, a Super Bowl ad, or anything even close to the kind of effort Samsung has gone to in order to get its devices into consumers’ hands - and that’s a company that has been a known brand for more than 50 years.
The company is cagey about its sales expectations. And Sprint, while clearly prepared to enthusiastically push the device, wouldn’t give me an indication of what constitutes success on its side.
Mr Rubin says he thinks the calibre of the team behind the device, as well as the obvious quality of what they have created, will be enough to shift units.
According to CCS Insight, Samsung controls 23% of the global smartphone market. Essential is starting with the US, but says it has its ambitions set across the developed world and then onto emerging markets.
Can it move the needle in global smartphone sales? From where I’m sitting, maybe - but then I’m in Silicon Valley. Something tells me it’s going to take a big effort to impress anyone beyond this tech-obsessed bubble.
___________
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC
You can reach Dave securely through encrypted messaging app Signal on: +1 (628) 400-7370


The death of a man killed by a London Underground train as he tried to pull his brother from the track was an accident, a coroner has ruled.

Nick Mann, 34, was travelling back from a concert in March when he was struck and killed by a train at Old Street Station.
His brother Robert had fallen onto the line and Nick was trying to pull him to safety as the train hit them.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded at St Pancras Coroners' Court.
Robert Mann was seriously injured and is still recovering.
Peter Darling, an inspector for the Office of Rail and Road investigations, told the court his investigations had found "no breach of health and safety" and called the death a "tragic accident".
Nick Mann, who lived in Wimbledon, south London, was originally from Shropshire. He had spent Saturday with his brother at a Shrewsbury Town FC game before going to a heavy metal concert in the evening.
A witness to the accident told the court they had been walking "really close" to the edge of the platform and "were jumping and celebrating, very cheerful".
He added: "One of them slipped, the other person was trying to pull him out. It was really, really fast."
The court also heard evidence from the driver of the train, who said he had seen "a male stumbling and fall onto the track just in front of me" and that he had immediately pushed the emergency brake.
Their mother, Pauline Mann, told the court in a written statement they had spent "the perfect day together" and said: "I will always miss my darling son."
Mr Mann's wife, Jennifer Kavanagh, described her husband as "selfless, kind, warm and loving and he put other people first. We had a wonderful decade together".


More than 100 people had to be rescued in Northern Ireland after being trapped by overnight flooding.

The north west was worst affected, particularly Londonderry, as well as other parts of the county and Tyrone.
Firefighters rescued 93 people who were trapped by flood water in their cars or homes. At one point, the fire service got an emergency call every 45 seconds.
The Met Office confirmed that 63% of the average August rainfall fell within an eight-to-nine-hour period.
The coastguard rescued more than 30 people, with helicopters brought in from Scotland, Wales and Sligo.
DUP leader Arlene Foster travelled to Drumahoe in Londonderry to meet victims.
Sinn Féin's northern leader Michelle O'Neill said the process of rebuilding would require a "robust and concerted approach across several different government departments."
"Clearly questions need to be answered about the state of preparedness and the response of some statutory agencies," she added.
Dawn Grieve and her two young sons were rescued from their home in the Ivy Mead area of Derry by tractor.
"I had to leave the house, I actually got a tractor ride out of there by two local boys - their mum lives at the top of our street," she said.
"I have two young boys, one is four and one is two, and we had to get out of there at about half three this morning.
"It was too bad for them - they were scared."
The ambulance service said it responded to 10 calls directly related to the weather, including one case of hypothermia.
Other people were helped by the police.
Brigid Mullan, from Claudy, told BBC News NI she was stranded on the Victoria Road in Derry.
"We met a woman from Plumbridge who was very, very distressed so I offered to try to get her to Plumbridge.
"We didn't get near Plumbridge, we got halfway there and the roads were flooded. We had to turn."
Bridges collapsed on the Camlough Road near Carrickmore, County Tyrone, and on Church Steet in Claudy, County Londonderry.
Paul Duddy, a motorist caught up in the flooding, told BBC News NI he had "never seen anything like this in all my life".
"It was terrifying, particularly whenever I saw the water coming up over the bonnet of the car. I don't know how the car didn't stall completely."
"Firefighters worked in extremely challenging circumstances to reach people," Alan Walmsley of the fire service said.
"A number of roads were impassable due to flooding and crews had to take alternative routes to attend some incidents."
The Department for Infrastructure said a "multi-agency conference meeting" was held on Wednesday.
In a statement, the department said the Red Cross and the Western trust had assisted in temporary accommodation centres overnight.
"The scheme of emergency financial assistance, which is administered by councils is open to all residents significantly affected by flooding within their homes," they said.
The Foyle Arena was opened from 23:00 BST for those affected.
Ryan Gray, from the Coastguard, said:  "Flood water up to 6cms in depth will take a human being off their feet and if it does so, it's very unlikely that the person will be able to stand up again."
"This was a metre and a half of flood water - it was lifting vehicles up and taking them down, the current of the water.
"There was a little bit of panic, thankfully the rescue teams are very well trained and they managed to calm the scene down and rescue people."
End of Twitter post  by @columeastwood
SDLP leader and Foyle MLA Colum Eastwood tweeted that the flooding was "shocking".
"Families and businesses struggling to cope and big questions for statutory agencies. Where was the preparation?"
The Roads Service say a number of roads remain closed on Wednesday.
It is understood that about 600 Northern Ireland Electricity customers are still without power.
Derry City and Strabane District Council will remain open until 22:00 BST on Wednesday and from 08:00 on Thursday to provide support and assistance to those affected.
Translink has said there would be severe disruption. Full details are on the Translink website.


Prime Minister Theresa May says that after Brexit, UK laws will be "made not in Brussels but in Westminster".

The claim: Brexit Secretary David Davis says the Great Repeal Bill will allow the UK Parliament and Welsh, Scottish and Northern Ireland administrations to scrap, amend and improve laws.
Reality Check verdict: The bill got its name because it will repeal the European Communities Act. But it will not change EU laws - it will turn them into UK laws. The UK could, if it wanted to, make changes to those laws after it leaves the EU, probably in 2019.
Her government has published plans do to this by passing a Great Repeal Bill - the white paper laying out the plans for the bill was unveiled by Brexit Secretary David Davis in Parliament the day after Article 50 was triggered.
The bill will do two things.
First, as its name suggests, the bill will repeal the European Communities Act, the British law that took the UK into the European Community in 1973 and which established the supremacy of EU law over domestic legislation.
Second, it will transpose the entire body of EU legislation into domestic law.
The UK Parliament currently has no power to repeal EU legislation.
It is hard to calculate exactly what proportion of UK laws come from the EU - estimates range from 13% to 60%.
Transposing EU legislation into domestic law will not be a simple "copy and paste" job. The House of Commons library says it could be "one of the largest legislative projects ever undertaken in the UK".
Many EU laws, for example on the environment, refer to EU agencies that the UK will no longer be part of when it leaves the Union.
The Great Repeal Bill will have to find new ways of making those rules part of UK law. Any rules that cannot be transferred will have to be repealed.
The government has controversial plans to give ministers the power to make changes to some laws without full Parliamentary scrutiny, which could add further complications.
They are known as Henry VIII clauses, after the Statute of Proclamations 1539, which gave the king power to legislate by proclamation.
Some opposition politicians are concerned this could mean an executive power grab - the government changing laws without proper scrutiny by MPs. The government says these powers will only be used to deal with EU-related gaps in the law, not to make substantive policy changes.
After the bill comes into effect, probably in March 2019, the UK Parliament, and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be able to amend, scrap or keep laws that originated from the EU.
That process is likely to take many years.
Read more from Reality Check


Volunteers are being sought for a Scotland-wide survey of bats.

The Bat Conservation Trust is asking people to note sightings at sunset and before sunrise in an effort to gauge the health of bat populations.
The surveys involve spending an hour looking and listening for bats and entering the results online.
Anne Youngman, Scottish officer for the trust, suggested volunteers could incorporate their surveys into a "romantic sunset saunter".
The UK is home to 18 species, including brown long-eared, common pipistrelle and Daubenton's bats.
The nationwide survey will run until the end of August.
Ms Youngman said: "This survey is ideal for you if you don't have previous bat surveying experience.
"It is also a perfect opportunity to get together with family and friends and discover bats and other wildlife in your local area.
"Simply head out at dusk or before dawn, or both. Spend an hour in your garden or walking around your local area and look out for bats."
She added: "You can enjoy a romantic sunset saunter, or a mini adventure before dawn."


Relatives of three missing London girls say there were no signs they were planning to go to Syria, in emotional interviews appealing for their return.

It is feared Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, both 15, and Kadiza Sultana, 16, plan to join Islamic State.
Shamima's sister Renu urged her not to "do anything stupid", adding she is "our baby". Halima Khanom, Kadiza's sister, said: "Everyone is hurting."
Amira's father Abase Hussen said: "We cannot stop crying. Don't go to Syria."
Kadiza, Shamima and Amira flew from Gatwick to Turkey on Tuesday after telling their parents they were going out for the day - but it is not clear whether they have crossed into Syria.
In a tearful video, Ms Begum, 27, said there was no indication her younger sister had been thinking of leaving for Syria and said her disappearance had left "a big hole" in the family house.
She said Shamima had been "upset" after a friend from her school left for Syria and said the family was hoping the girls had "gone to go and bring her back".
Shamima was last seen on Tuesday morning when she was dropped off at a bus stop, claiming she had extra classes at school.
"There was no indication whatsoever. She was just herself. There was nothing different about her. There were no changes in her behaviour in anything. She was just our baby, she was just herself," Ms Begum said.
"We don't want her to do anything stupid - she is a sensible girl," she said, adding: "We just want her home, we want her safe."
Ms Begun said the three girls were "young" and "vulnerable" and if anybody had tried to persuade them to go to Syria it was a "cruel and evil" thing to do.
"They're preying on young innocent girls and it's not right," she added.
Mr Hussen said his daughter, Amira, had told him she was going to a wedding on Tuesday and sent a text between 10:00 and 11:00 GMT.
"She said, 'Dad the place is a little bit far. I pray my midday prayer and I get back.' She didn't come home," he said.
The family reported Amira as missing that night.
"We are depressed, and it's very stressful," he said while holding a teddy Amira had given her mother for Mother's Day.
"The message we have for Amira is to get back home. We miss you. We cannot stop crying. Please think twice. Don't go to Syria."
He said his daughter had never spoken about an interest in the militant group with him.
"She doesn't dare discuss something like this with us. She knows what the answer would be," he said.
In a further direct appeal to his daughter, he said: "Remember how we love you. Your sister and brother cannot stop crying."
Halima Khanom, the eldest sister of Kadiza, said her family was "hurting" and urged her to contact them.
In a direct appeal, she said: "Find the courage in your heart to contact us and let us know that you are safe and you are okay. That is all we ask of you."
Police say the girls boarded a Turkish Airlines flight, which departed from Gatwick Airport at 12:40 GMT for Istanbul.
Officers said the girls had previously been interviewed after another girl from their school - Bethnal Green Academy, in east London - went to Syria in December, but nothing had indicated they were at risk.
Meanwhile, the family of a Glasgow woman who may have encouraged the three girls to join IS said officials had "failed" to stop them leaving the UK.
Aqsa Mahmood, 20, who went to Syria to be a "jihadi bride" in 2013, uses a Twitter account to encourage British women to join her. Last Sunday, Shamima sent her a message via Twitter.
In a statement, Ms Mahmood's family said she was a "disgrace" to the family and they were "full of horror and anger" that she may have had "a role to play" in recruiting the girls.
"However, the security services have serious questions to answer," the family added.
Scotland Yard said it would not discuss matters of surveillance and security.


From fashion to energy - the rind and seeds of Sicily's most famous citrus fruit, the humble orange, are being used in a range of greener, healthier business initiatives.

In 2011, Adriana Santonocito was a design student in Milan when she first had the idea of making sustainable textiles from what was naturally abundant, and widely wasted, in her native Sicilian city of Catania.
Her challenge was to find a way for the rinds of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of oranges to be put to good use.
Now, thanks to her creative thinking, it is possible to make whole items of clothing using fibre that originated from the fruit.
Ms Santonocito's concept was inspired by a question posed in her university dissertation. Could a luxurious silk foulard be made from citrus by-products, that would otherwise be thrown away or fed to cattle?
The question was particularly relevant in Sicily, where many thousands of tonnes of citrus fruit are juiced every year, leaving massive amounts of waste.
The 39-year-old found her answer in the university's labs, and it earned her a patent.
It was already known that cellulose could be extracted from orange rinds. But Ms Santonocito discovered that, using chemical reagents, it could then be turned into yarn, which could be dyed and blended with other textiles, such as cotton or polyester.
Together with her university colleague Enrica Arena, she founded Orange Fiber in 2014, and set about selling the silk-like material to clothes-makers.
This year, the famous Italian fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo used it in its spring-summer collection. The aim was to make its high-end shirts, dresses and foulards more sustainable.
Orange Fiber, which now has a team of 12 people, operates from a local juice-processing plant, where it gets its waste material for free.
The business is partially seasonal, operating during the months of the year when the juice-maker works. But once the orange rind has been transformed into cellulose, it can be put in storage for use later.
Antonio Perdichizzi, an early investor in Orange Fiber, says the firm stood out to him because, unlike most innovative start-ups in Italy, it isn't digital.
"Italy doesn't invest much in innovation, but brilliant ideas and skills win despite a lack of resources," he adds.
Rosario Faraci, a professor of business, economics and management at the University of Catania, says the firm is an example of how "creativity and entrepreneurial spirit" is creating new jobs and businesses in the region.
Oranges could also make baked goods healthier, and stay fresher, thanks to a new procedure which transforms them into an innovative fat-free flour.
The new technique is currently being tested at the University of Catania and results are encouraging.
At the moment, almost all bakers use fat, such as butter or margarine in their cooking.
But according to the research, half of this fat could be replaced by using flour obtained from orange rinds, seeds, and part of the pulp not used in juice-making.
Like Orange Fiber, the researchers obtain the raw materials they need from local juice makers. They wash the rinds to remove the bitter flavour, then dry, process and whiten what remains.
Salvatore Barbagallo, a professor of agriculture at the University of Catania, says the flour is "perfectly sustainable" and costs almost nothing to produce. It also has "no impact" on the taste and fragrance of food that contains it.
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His researchers made 300kg of the flour and got local bakers in Acireale, near Catania, to try it out.
The cooks, known for being conservative about new ingredients, were all happy with the results and could taste no difference in their pastries.
The researchers say they have found other uses for the flour, too.
It is soluble and can be added to drinks to provide health benefits. It could also be used by nutritionists and in medicine.
Sicilian farmers have always used orange rinds as animal feed or fertiliser. But oranges can be a precious source of energy as well.
In Mussomeli, an ancient town near Caltanissetta in the middle of Sicily, orange waste products are used to make biogas which is turned into electricity.
The farm Nuova Scala used about 16,430 tonnes of rinds last year to produce 24,000 kWh of electricity.
Output varies depending on the amount of oranges produced, and the firm expects to get through 22,000 tonnes of orange waste in 2017.
Of course, all of these projects depend on local fruit companies, which produce many thousands of tonnes of citrus by-products annually.
Salvatore Imbesi, who owns the producer AgrumiGel, says the rinds, seeds and other non-edible parts of the fruit are called "pastazzo", and he produces about 40,000 tonnes of it a year.
He says Sicily as a whole produces about 200,000 tonnes, although unofficial estimates suggest the real figure could be higher.
Producers have an incentive to re-use pastazzo, because disposal can be expensive. Mr Imbesi says that in Sicily the total cost of disposal can reach 16m euros every year, "six for the cost of the transport, and 10 for the disposal itself".
Some of Sicily's fruit is sold fresh, including its famous blood oranges, with the rest turned into juices.
In 2016, the amount juiced included some 140,000 tonnes of lemons, 100,000 tonnes of blonde oranges, 100,000 tonnes of blood oranges, 20,000 tonnes of green mandarins and 20,000 tonnes of matured mandarins.
Finally, thanks to the new crop of innovative solutions, the squeezed fruit are being turned from expensive waste into exciting products.


Scottish politicians are out meeting voters this weekend with just five days to go until the general election.

Nicola Sturgeon is flying by helicopter in a bid to visit half of Scotland's constituencies before polling day.
Former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling has been campaigning in East Renfrewshire.
Ruth Davidson has been reaffirming her opposition to a second referendum and Willie Rennie said it was a straight race between the Lib Dems and the SNP.
On Saturday, the first minister's helicopter was due to make stops in six constituencies - from Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire to Clydesdale and Tweeddale.
Ms Sturgeon has been setting out what she says is "the real cost of voting Tory".
The SNP won 56 of the 59 seats in Scotland in the 2015 general election, a record result which the polls have suggested they may struggle to match this time round.
But Ms Sturgeon insisted that "now more than ever it is vital that we have strong SNP voices standing up for Scotland".
She said: "The Tories' austerity agenda has failed on every count - not only has it choked off the economic recovery but the years of underinvestment have put huge pressure on public services across the UK.
"We simply can't go on with more of the same but that is exactly what the Tories are planning to do - and this snap election has presented a golden opportunity for voters across Scotland to say enough is enough.
"With polls tightening across the UK, the votes of people across Scotland could determine the size of Theresa May's majority in the next parliament."
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale was campaigning in East Lothian, while former chancellor and Better Together chief Alistair Darling met voters in East Renfrewshire.
Mr Darling refused to be drawn when asked repeatedly if he thought Jeremy Corbyn would make a good prime minister, saying: "He's had a much better campaign than anyone had thought at the start."
He said "the tide is turning" and "the shine is coming off the nationalists" because of their "poor" record on health and education.
Mr Darling added: "More and more people across Scotland just want the SNP to get on with the day job, and drop its plans for another unwanted and unnecessary referendum.
"Instead of campaigning for better standards in our schools and hospitals, once again the nationalists have taken to the streets to campaign for another divisive independence referendum."
In Aberdeen, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson was rallying party activists in the north-east with a speech setting out her opposition to a second referendum.
She said the election on Thursday was the "last chance to stop Nicola Sturgeon in her tracks".
"It's our last opportunity to have our say, make Nicola Sturgeon listen for once - and stop her second referendum," she added.
She said the only way to "fightback against the SNP" was to vote for the Conservatives.
She went on: "We are 100% committed to opposing the SNP's second referendum - you all know you can trust us on that."
Meanwhile Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie was recreating a famous scene from the film Chariots of Fire as he raced supporters along a beach in St Andrews in Fife.
He said: "We are targeting to win seats like Edinburgh West, East Dunbartonshire, North East Fife, Caithness, Argyll and the Highlands. In those seats we are the people that can change the direction of this country.
"In less than seven days' time people have a straight choice. Do they want an MP who will do nothing more than advance the cause for another divisive independence referendum, or do they want an MP that will stand up for the local community?"


A report on the experiences of people bereaved by the Hillsborough disaster should be published "quickly" to help those affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Charlotte Hennessy, whose father died in the 1989 tragedy, has contributed to the former Bishop of Liverpool James Jones's report.
It was commissioned after the inquests and given to the government in June.
The Home Office said the report "will be published in due course".
Ms Hennessy, who was six years old when her father James Hennessy died, said time was "hugely important" for those affected.
"I do feel it should be an absolute priority. If the legacy of the the 96 is anything it should be that lessons are learned from mistakes," she added.
"I have told the Bishop's report about my experiences and given recommendations, especially because I grew up with the Hillsborough disaster.
"As a child I wasn't offered any counselling or support and this has had a long lasting effect on me as an adult. It would be awful if we don't learn from that."
Rt Rev Jones was asked to produce the report by the prime minister following the conclusions of the Hillsborough inquests in April 2016.
Solicitor Elkan Abrahamson, who represents 22 of the families, has written to Theresa May asking her to distribute the report to the families "immediately" with a view to making the report public "as a matter of urgency".
He also wrote: "We are concerned by the reaction of various authorities to Grenfell... and we believe that the Bishop's report will assist Central and Local Government and other organisations properly to perform their functions with the necessary diligence and compassion."
Ms Hennessey urged Mrs May to make sure the Grenfell families were involved in the investigation and kept regularly updated.
She added: "I wouldn't want to compare Grenfell to Hillsborough but if something happens like this you can't help but relate. It's heartbreaking.
"These families are in shock and grieving and are not being given answers.
"Time is very important. I appreciate the government has a lot to deal with but feel this report should be publicised at the earliest opportunity."
During Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Alison McGovern, the Labour MP for Wirral South, asked when the report would be published.
Mrs May said she could not give a date as she had not yet seen the report but added she had commissioned it "precisely because I was concerned about the way in which the bereaved families at Hillsborough had been treated over far too many years".
A statement from the Home Office said: "With regard to your query as to when the Bishop's report into Hillsborough will be published, there is no set date and the report will be published in due course."


"I don't support joining the euro, because the eurozone is unstable," says Daina, wearing a French beret and snugly wrapped in a winter coat at Riga's Central Market.

She smiles at the thought of buying groceries with euros instead of Latvian lats, as if it's a joke.
"Sooner or later it will split anyway," she says.
Latvia is pushing ahead with plans to become the 18th member of the eurozone on 1 January 2014.
That's despite unemployment in the region being at an all-time high, Spain and Portugal struggling to bring their debt and deficits under control, and Greece's long-term future in the currency still in doubt.
A young mother, 28-year-old Annie, shields her eight-month-old daughter, Francesca, from the cold breeze and voices her concerns.
"It's better for us to wait and see what happens," she says. "I don't want to leave our national currency. Prices will probably go up."
According to a recent opinion poll, more than half the population is against joining the single currency.
Many worry that food will become more expensive. The prospect of contributing to bailouts for richer eurozone countries is also unpopular.
Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis says he understands people's concerns.
"The public now is less convinced than it was a few years ago," he says.
"It's not surprising because what you hear about the eurozone is all crisis. It is the task of the government to use all of its economic reasoning to show why it's still a good idea for Latvia to join."
He argues joining the euro will boost trade, reduce transaction costs, improve foreign investment and make travel easier.
All EU countries, except the UK and Denmark, are obliged by treaty to adopt the euro at some stage.
But several of those still outside the currency are looking to delay. In neighbouring Lithuania, a party has just won elections promising to put back euro entry from 2014 to 2015.
But Latvia's currency has been pegged to the euro since 2005 and Mr Dombrovskis argues that joining is the next natural step.
"We see the euro is holding remarkably well in its exchange rate to the US dollar: it's maintaining its share as a global reserve currency," he says.
"Therefore we see the euro as a currency doing well. We are sticking to the plan to join in 2014."
Latvia is an exception to the rule in other ways, too.
Eurostat
In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Latvia received a bailout from the European Union and the IMF, and the government introduced a tough austerity programme.
There was an extremely deep recession and GDP collapsed by 18% in just one year.
Even so, Mr Dombrovskis was re-elected and he has now written a book about how Latvia got out of its financial crisis.
Latvia's economy is certainly growing quickly again. Last year its GDP was up by 5.5%.
But critics say it is growing from a low base. They highlight the unemployment rate in the country, which remains high, and the number of people who seek employment abroad.
Businesses also seem split over the economic benefits of joining the euro.
At the Kaija fish processing plant by the coast, Scottish-caught mackerel flop along a mechanical conveyor belt to be washed before nimble-fingered workers cut and stuff the fish into tins, some of which are exported back to the UK.
Andris Bite, a director at Kaija said: "It's not the correct time to join.
"It is a big risk to jump on a ship which could be sinking. It would be better to join the eurozone once the storm has calmed down."
At the Latvijas Finieris plywood factory, forklift trucks whizz along, shifting wooden panels to giant chopping machines. The company's corporate development manager, Gatis Kepitis, holds the opposite opinion.
"Joining the eurozone would be good for our company and other exporters because it reduces currency transaction costs and risks, and in general makes export transactions easier," he says.
Latvia remains the third poorest country in the EU and Brussels will decide early next year whether its economy is fit enough to join the single currency.
Morten Hansen, an economist from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, feels Latvia's euro aspirations, on balance, are right.
He says: "There are people talking about the last passengers entering the Titanic, but I would still say the euro will forever be seen as a more stable and credible currency than the Latvian lat."


Business leaders have called for more support to encourage women to set up and grow their own firms.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has launched a report in Cardiff highlighting the potential benefits to the economy of increasing the number of women entrepreneurs.
It urges more UK and Welsh Government support and better access to finance.
A separate survey also highlights issues such as lack of confidence and work-life balance.
The FSB wants to improve diversity when public contracts are being awarded and more female role models.
It also wants the Welsh Government to establish a Small Business Administration which would include a section aimed at helping women overcome barriers.
The organisation also calls for the UK government to change maternity pay which it says disadvantages the self-employed.
The number of self-employed women in the UK has risen by 40% between 2008 and 2016.
Women now account for almost a third of all self-employed workers according to Office for National Statistics figures.
Helen Walbey, chair of the FSB's UK-wide diversity panel, runs a motorcycle scrap yard and parts business in Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taff.
She says working in a male-dominated industry has driven her to support other women starting out in business.
Ms Walbey will be officially launching the report at an event in Cardiff Bay sponsored by the Deputy Presiding Officer Ann Jones.
It sets out research showing that women-led businesses face many of the same challenges all small firms encounter - including cash flow issues (42%), and difficulty accessing finance (25%).
But other challenges were more acute for women business owners, after a survey of 2,000 of them across the UK.
These included balancing work and family life (40%), achieving credibility for the business (37%) and a lack of confidence (22%).
Ms Walbey said: "If women were to set up businesses and grow them at the same rate as men, we would see a huge boost to growth and prosperity in this country.
"In fact, the UK Government estimates it could add Â£600 billion to the economy."


Food paradise Singapore with its many and varied signature eats is getting its own official Michelin guide.

Seventeen food court outlets, known as hawker stalls, and 14 restaurants covering 19 different cuisines have made it into the inaugural guide, which will be launched next week.
"Singapore's history is reflected in its cuisine - the variety, simplicity and authenticity completely won over our inspectors," said Michael Ellis, the international director of the Michelin Guides.
A Michelin star may be one of the most sought-after honours in the culinary business, but do Singaporeans really need them to work out where's best to eat?
"Singaporeans know their food, it's in their blood and DNA," said entrepreneur and TV personality KF Seetoh.
"We are already one of the 'foodiest' cities in the world and we can tell you where to find the very best hawker food - we have our favourite picks," he told the BBC.
Like many Singaporeans, he didn't entirely agree with some of the Michelin choices, but said he hoped the guide would serve to promote Singapore's multi-ethnic food heritage.
The 'Michelin curse' comes to Hong Kong
Can Singapore's hawker food heritage survive?
In pictures: Singapore's hawker centres
In this nation of passionate foodies, people are so fiercely dedicated to their hawker fare that they will brave snaking queues at their favourite stalls.
The view so far is that this guide will mostly be useful for tourists, not dedicated locals.
Kevin Lim, 50, said he could think of "at least 10 stalls that sell better food than the ones in the guide".
Meanwhile student and hawker devotee Stephanie Chua, 27, said there were far better ways of knowing which hawker stalls to choose, "for example you would look at how long a queue it attracts".
"I also think word of mouth is a better and more accurate way of deciding which stall is best."
Chef Shen Tan, 44, told the BBC that a Singapore Michelin guide was a "great starting point", but that diners should still exercise their own judgement.
"As it suggests, it is a guide. Other personal preferences come into play and it shouldn't ever be considered the holy grail," she said.
"I think it's an excellent way for someone to get to sample local fare. Besides, I'm very sure the hawker section was very well-researched by Singaporeans."
"We are a very small little red dot on the world map and our cuisine isn't quite as well known as those of other countries," said food blogger and doctor Leslie Tay, who reviews hawker food on a frequent basis.
"Having a Michelin guide will help motivate our chefs and hawkers to keep improving on their craft and could help make Singapore cuisine known worldwide."
But some past recipients of Michelin stars have found the honour has its downsides.
Vendors in Hong Kong - another popular food destination - have spoken about the "Michelin curse", with some seeing sharp increases in rent after being included in the guide.
Other diners, like food blogger Gary Suen, have expressed unhappiness at declining food standards once a shop is awarded a star.
"The Michelin guide is merely a 'vehicle', albeit a more influential one - that facilitates a growing food trend," he said.
Mr Suen said that while the Michelin system had "definitely helped the industry in general", the choice of street food stalls included in the Hong Kong guide "may be subject to debate".
The full impact of the Singapore edition will become clear once the guide launches next week.
But Ms Chua said she saw an upside to some of the "real best hawker food in Singapore" being left out - no risk of price rises and no additions to those legendary queues.


Work to repair parts of a landmark castle on the Hampshire coast has begun.

Originally built by Henry VIII to defend the coast from invasion, Hurst Castle was also used to guard the Solent during World War Two.
The £1m conservation project will repair parts of the castle added in the 20th Century.
English Heritage said it would ensure the site was "protected for the future".
Hurst Castle was originally built by Henry VIII between 1541 and 1544 to guard the Needles Passage, the narrow western entrance between the Isle of Wight and the mainland.
In the 1860s two huge wing batteries were added.
During World Wars One and Two the castle was fully garrisoned guarding the western entrance to the Solent.
The conservation project will centre on the wartime look-out tower, gun emplacements and searchlight position on top of the wing batteries.
English Heritage Properties Curator Roy Porter said: "We're looking at the concrete structures added around 1902 and also to the top of the castle in the 1940s
"These were thrown up in a hurry at a time of national emergency. Our job is to make these temporary structures permanent and protected for the future."
The castle will remain open to the public during the work. It is hoped the restoration will be finished by October.


Gambia's President Adama Barrow has returned to the country to assume power - days after his predecessor Yahya Jammeh left to go into exile.

President Barrow's plane touched down at Banjul airport where jubilant crowds waited to welcome him.
Mr Barrow, who has been in neighbouring Senegal, won elections in December.
However a handover was stalled when Mr Jammeh, Gambia's president of 22 years, refused to step aside.
He left for exile at the weekend after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention.
Mr Barrow, dressed in white robes and a cap, stepped off the plane in Banjul as heavily armed troops from Senegal and Nigeria stood by.
Overhead, a fighter jet from the West African force guaranteeing the new president's security performed fly-pasts.
"I am a happy man today," Mr Barrow told a reporter from the Associated Press in the crush at the airport, adding: "I think the bad part is finished now."
The president said his priority was to appoint his cabinet and "then get the ball rolling".
The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Banjul said that thousands of people had tried to force their way into the airport to see Mr Barrow return and they burst into celebration as soon as his plane touched down.
President Barrow was driven from the airport in a convoy of cars and waved to the crowds who lined the route.
Supporter Ibrahima Gaye said Mr Barrow would be different from Mr Jammeh "in all aspects".
"We have been living under dictatorship for 22 years. You can go home at night and sleep without worrying you will be arrested before daybreak," he said.
President Barrow is staying at his own home while a security assessment is carried out at the official residence, State House.
Mr Barrow was sworn in as president at the Gambian embassy in Senegal a week ago, but a public inauguration on home soil is planned soon, aides say.
The UN envoy for West Africa, Mohamed ibn Chambas, has said the UN will help guarantee security in The Gambia.
Several thousand West African soldiers remain in The Gambia amid reports that rogue pro-Jammeh elements are embedded in the country's security forces.
The West African force had threatened to drive Mr Jammeh from office if he did not agree to go.
The new president has asked for the force to remain in The Gambia for six months.
His spokesman Halifa Sallah said an inauguration was being planned for the national stadium in Banjul. "It will be an occasion to show strength. Everyone will be invited. The president will address his people,'' he told Senegalese radio.
Mr Jammeh, who was a 29-year-old army lieutenant when he came to power in a 1994 coup, had refused to accept the results of the December election.
After his departure, reports emerged that more than $11m (Â£8.8m) had disappeared from The Gambia's state coffers.
However a presidential adviser said the police had been asked to investigate and would determine if anything was missing.
Mr Jammeh has not commented on the allegations.
In other developments, parliament has cancelled the state of emergency declared by Mr Jammeh last week. It also revoked legislation that would have extended its life for a further 90 days.


The Bank of England has again expressed concern about the UK's buy-to-let property market.

The Bank's governor, Mark Carney, said he was concerned about high levels of lending to landlords and that the Bank would take action.
"There are a number of things happening ... we are watching it closely and we will take action," he told the FT.
Mr Carney said the problem was that investors might sell their properties at the same time if house prices fell.
In September, the Bank's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) made a similar warning about the buy-to-let market.
The committee, which is led by Mr Carney, said the growing market posed a threat to the UK's financial stability.
"The stock of buy-to-let lending might be disproportionately vulnerable to very large falls in house prices," the FPC said.
Since the FPC's warning, Chancellor George Osborne has announced that stamp duty rates will rise steeply for anyone buying a home that is not their main residence - which would include buy-to-let investors as well as second-home buyers.
But with the higher rates of duty only starting at the beginning of the next financial year, there are worries that there may be a rush by some would-be landlords to buy properties before then, which might help to push up house prices even further.
Lending to landlords has grown rapidly in recent years.
There are now 1.7m buy-to-let mortgages, making up about 16% by value of the total stock of all outstanding mortgages.
Each year, more than two million individual landlords declare rental income to HM Revenue & Customs in their tax returns.
For the 2012-13 financial year, 2.1 million taxpayers declared income from property, up by more than a third from the 1.5 million in 2007-08.
Earlier this year, Mr Carney said the Bank was in discussions with Mr Osborne about obtaining greater powers to regulate the buy-to-let mortgage market.
So far, however, there is no word on what these powers might look like.
The governor also used the Financial Times interview to defend his policy of "forward guidance" about the path of interest rates.
In the past two years, he has suggested several times that the Bank would soon start to "normalise" the base rate, which remains at 0.5%.
However, inflation has remained far below the target of 2%, prompting the Monetary Policy Committee to hold its fire.
"Did I know that oil was going to fall 12% in the last 10 days? No, I didn't know that," Mr Carney said.
Neither, he added, had the Chinese "given me 12 months heads-up" that they would devalue the yuan. "But I will continue to try to frame as accurately as possible what's guiding my decision process."
The UK's inflation rate turned positive in November for the first time in four months, official figures showed on Tuesday.
The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates for the first time in nearly a decade on Wednesday, but Mr Carney's comments indicate that the UK's central bank remains in no hurry to follow suit.
The Bank has not altered UK interest rates for the past six-and-a-half years.
Its annual survey of household finances found that almost a third of households would have to reduce spending, work more or alter their mortgage payments if rates rose by 2 percentage points without any increase in wages.
The Bank of England research said that the government's austerity programme "has weighed on household spending, and it is likely to continue to do so".


North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has an unspecified medical problem, state media report, after he failed to appear at a key political event.

A report on state television said on Thursday that Mr Kim, 31, was in an "uncomfortable physical condition" but gave no details.
Earlier, the leader was absent from a session of the Supreme People's Assembly - North Korea's legislature.
Mr Kim has not been seen in public for more than three weeks.
His non-appearance at the SPA - to which he was elected in March with 100% of the vote - on Thursday prompted renewed speculation about the leader's whereabouts.
The report on state-run Central Television later in the day showed footage of the leader limping during one of his regular inspection tours back in July.
Kim made his last public appearance on 3 September, when he attended a concert given by the Moranbong Band - an all-girl musical troupe reputedly hand-picked by the leader himself.
State newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed Mr Kim sitting in comfortable front-row seats, alongside his wife Ri Sol-ju.
Previous appearances, the usual diet of factory and military unit inspections, show a clearly overweight Mr Kim walking with a limp and wearing generously cut trousers, possibly to disguise his walking difficulties.
South Korean newspaper Joongang Daily supports the leg injury theory, and suggests that his disappearance may be due to an injury picked up during some sort of sporting activity.
It is known that Mr Kim is a lover of horse riding and is keen on watching basketball and football.
An anonymous source - said to be "familiar with North Korea affairs" - quoted by the South Korean news agency Yonhap, said he understood Mr Kim was "suffering from gout, along with hyperuricemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure".
The agency said some people attribute the deterioration in Mr Kim's health to frequent drinking and overeating.
But its source said gout runs in Mr Kim's family, with his grandfather Kim II-sung, his father Kim Jong-il and his elder brother Kim Jong-nam all suffering from the disease.
Chosun Ilbo suggests that he simply might be on holiday, but notes that army politburo head Hwang Pyong-so, Mr Kim's constant shadow on inspection visits, has also disappeared from view.
It is not the first time that the North Korean leader has failed to appear in public for an extended period. In March 2012, he spent 21 days out of the public eye; in June of the same year it was 24 days; and in January 2013 it was 18 days.
Despite the lack of recent footage of Kim Jong-un, he has not entirely disappeared from televisions tuned to Central Television.
Viewers get a daily dose of archive footage of months-old inspection visits along with an enthusiastic voice-over, usually in the hour leading up to the main evening news.
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. For more reports from BBC Monitoring, click here. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook


The father of Alison Parker, one of two journalists killed live on air, has appealed to US President Barack Obama to push through tougher gun laws.

"You need to do this... I will help you do this and the press is with you on this because they just lost one of their own," Andy Parker told the BBC.
Staff at WDBJ TV in Virginia have been mourning the loss of his daughter, a reporter, and cameraman Adam Ward.
They were shot dead live on air by a disgruntled ex-colleague on Wednesday.
The attack has reignited the debate about gun control laws in the US.
Mr Parker acknowledged it would be an uphill battle to change the law, but said the president could take on the challenge as he had with other issues including healthcare reform.
"Mr President, you need to do this. Please do it. Please do it for us and for other people so they're not going to lose their Alisons and their Adams," he said in an emotional message.
President Obama supported legislation to extend background checks for gun buyers and a ban on rapid-firing assault weapons after 26 people were killed at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, but it was rejected in 2013.
Last month, he told the BBC the failure to pass "common-sense gun safety laws" was the greatest frustration of his presidency.
On Wednesday, he said the US needed to do "a better job of making sure that people who have problems, people who shouldn't have guns, don't have them."
Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said she would "take on" the issue of gun violence, while admitting it was "a very political, difficult issue in America".
She said: "I want to reiterate how important it is we not let yet another terrible incidence go by without trying to do something more to prevent this incredible killing that is stalking our country."
Republican presidential hopefuls Jim Gilmore and Ben Carson have warned against any rush to introduce tougher gun controls.
Although the issue has stalled nationally, gun control measures have gone ahead in the last two years in several states.
WDBJ Roanoke news director Kelly Zuber said in a news conference on Thursday that none of her news teams had been doing live shots for the last two days "out of an abundance of caution".
She said the gunman, Vester Flanagan, may have discovered the location of the news crew after watching them in an earlier TV appearance at Bridgewater Plaza in Moneta on Wednesday, and had enough time to drive to the area before their second live appearance.
The station's general manager, Jeff Marks, also said Flanagan had vowed to make "a stink" soon after he was fired from the station two years ago.
Earlier on Thursday, the station held a minute's silence on air in memory of the two slain journalists. "We will, over time, heal from this," WDBJ7 anchor Kim McBroom told viewers, holding hands with two colleagues.
Bunches of flowers and black ribbons have been placed outside the channel's headquarters in Roanoke.
Flanagan, who posted online a video he had filmed of the attack, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound later on Wednesday.
Memos from the station reveal Flanagan, who used the on-air name of Bryce Williams, had been ordered by the station's bosses to seek medical help and expressed "aggressive" behaviour toward colleagues.
WDBJ's former news chief Dan Dennison said on Wednesday Flanagan had complained of racial discrimination but "all these allegations were deemed to be unfounded".
Flanagan had to be escorted from the building by police when he was fired "because he was not going to leave willingly", he added.
In a 23-page fax sent to ABC News, Flanagan said his anger had been "building steadily" and a recent attack on black church-goers in Charleston, South Carolina, had driven him to "tipping point".
Alison Parker
Adam Ward
Who were the two journalists?
The woman being interviewed by Ms Parker at the time of the shooting, Vicki Gardner, was also wounded but is in stable condition in hospital
Police recovered two Glock 9 mm pistols from Flanagan, both purchased legally.


Derry City managed to secure a scoreless draw with Galway despite playing for over an hour with 10 men.

United were already on top when City midfielder Conor McCormack was sent-off for two yellow cards on 28 minutes.
Derry keeper Ger Doherty twice kept out John Sullivan efforts as the hosts were denied by poor finishing and determined Derry defending.
Aaron McEneff almost snatched a later Derry winner when his strike was superbly saved by Conor Winn.
Derry were on the backfoot from the start at Eamonn Deacy Park and Ruairi Keating saw his shot headed off the line by Dean Jarvis.
Stephen Folan headed over and Gary Shanahan hit the side-netting while Ryan Connolly directed affairs from midfield.
McCormack was booked for simulation before a heavy challenge resulted in his dismissal.
Candystripes striker Rory Patterson was forced off with injury minutes later on his return after a hamstring problem.
The visitors kept Galway at bay for the remainder of the half and the tempo slowed early in the second half.
Enda Curran's header, which flew just wide, signalled the resumption of a concerted threat on the Derry goal and Doherty had to be at his best while skipper Ryan McBride was an outstanding leader of the rearguard.
Vinny Faherty netted but he was ruled offside before McEneff forced Winn into action after 85 minutes.
Folan headed wide with the last opening of the game as Derry came away with a point to remain third going into the mid-season break.


Francois Hollande's decision not to stand again for the presidency comes as a huge relief to the French Socialist Party, and probably to himself as well.

He - no doubt - mulled it hard and long. It is, after all, something of a humiliation to be the first president under the Fifth Republic to decide he's not good enough to run for a second term.
And yet how much more of a humiliation would it have been to stand in the presidentials and be wiped out by Marine Le Pen in round one?
Or worse, to be eliminated in the Socialists' own primary in January?
Because the truth is Francois Hollande had lost touch not only with the country - but also with his own camp.
The clincher seems to have been the book which came out two months ago - called A President Should Not Say That - in which two Le Monde journalists quoted a myriad of indiscretions made to them by the president over the course of his mandate.
Socialist deputies swooned with exasperation. Le Monde called it an act of political suicide.
For many in the party, this was the moment when it became obvious that Mr Hollande had parted company with any serious chance of re-election.
Throughout his career, Mr Hollande's guiding principle has been to synthesise. It mattered not what path he took, as long as in general it was half-way between the party's left and the party's right.
That way, he was always the indispensible compromise candidate who saved the party from pulling itself in two.
But now both left and right in the party have had enough.
The left has for years felt the president had betrayed their principles. In parliament there has been a solid bloc of MPs known as "les frondeurs" (or the rebels).
But now the right - in the form of Mr Hollande's own Prime Minister Manuel Valls - has come to the same state of despair.
In recent weeks, Mr Valls has been more and more audacious in his public comments about the president. On Monday, there was a lunch between the two men at the Elysee Palace, which on the face of it ended in a truce.
In reality this was probably the moment when Mr Valls told President Hollande that he was ready to do battle. Whatever Mr Hollande's decision, he (Manuel Valls) was going to run as a candidate. So to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, maybe Mr Hollande should do the decent thing.
Figuratively speaking, he left the revolver on the president's desk.


CCTV operators in Glasgow are to take strike action on the weekend of the Celtic v Rangers game.

The staff at Community Safety Glasgow (CSG), an arms-length council body, want better pay for shift work.
About 140 members of three trade unions -  Unison, Unite and GMB  - are expected to take part in the 48-hour action from 9 to 11 September.
Ahead of previous stoppages this year, CSG said it had "business continuity plans in place".
Unison Glasgow branch secretary Brian Smith said: "The trade unions believe that the payment levels are far too low compared to those in other parts of the Glasgow City Council family.
"For example, the nightshift payment in the council is almost double that which CSG intend to pay.
"The trade unions do not believe that the proposed payments adequately compensate workers who undertake shifts and our members have been left with no option other than to take strike action."


Hundreds of cyclists rode behind the coffin of a rider who was killed in a crash in County Down on Tuesday.

Gavin Moore, who was 40, died in hospital after the collision with a car on the Newtownards Road in Conlig.
Two other riders from the North Down Cycle Club (NDCC) were injured in the incident.
Mr Moore's funeral took place on Saturday at the Hamilton Road Presbyterian Church in Bangor.
A 59-year-old man arrested at the scene of the crash has been released on bail.
Police have appealed for anyone travelling in the area at the time to contact them with any information about the collision.


A monitoring group is disputing a report that so-called Islamic State (IS) has killed eight Dutch militants accused of trying to desert in Syria.

Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), a group that reports on abuses in IS-held Raqqa province, said the men were killed in Maadan on Friday.
They were held after clashes between Dutch and Iraqi jihadists, it added.
But the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights cited its own sources as saying the RBSS report was not true.
The city of Raqqa become the de facto capital of the caliphate whose formation IS proclaimed in 2014 after taking control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.
On Monday, RBSS reported that tensions between the Dutch unit, based in the Furusiya district of Raqqa, and the Iraqi units had escalated over the past month.
It reportedly began when three of the Dutch fighters were arrested by the Iraqis on suspicion of wanting to flee IS-held territory. The next day, one of them was beaten to death during interrogation, RBSS said.
Angered by his death, other members of the unit went to the intelligence facility and clashes erupted with the Iraqis, it added.
The IS leadership in Raqqa subsequently sent an intermediary to the Dutch unit's base to defuse the tensions but he was reportedly killed.
Senior IS leaders in Iraq reacted by ordering the arrest of all the members of the Dutch unit, RBSS said. They were imprisoned in Tabqa and Maadan, where the eight men were killed, it added.
But on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory cited what it described as reliable sources as saying that the report was based on "fake rumours" and that IS had not killed any of its foreign fighters.
It also cited "sources inside IS" as saying there were not that many Dutch fighters in Raqqa, and that the group had been forming units with mixed nationalities because of a "misunderstanding" last year between Uzbek and Tunisian units.
The Dutch authorities believe 200 people from the Netherlands, including 50 women, have joined IS in Syria and Iraq.


Che Adams netted a late winner as Birmingham City beat Bristol City to move into the Championship's top six.

The visitors failed to clear a corner and substitute Adams turned in from close range to earn a first win in four league games for Gary Rowett's Blues.
Earlier, home striker Clayton Donaldson had hit the post with a low shot and Bristol City's Lee Tomlin sent a free-kick against the crossbar.
Blues' Jonathan Spector was sent off for a tackle on Tomlin late on.
The visitors had been much improved after the interval but their defeat at St Andrew's stretched their winless league run to three games.
Donaldson scored a hat-trick in last season's corresponding fixture but his effort against the upright was the closest he came to ending a personal goal drought which stretches back to 17 September.
Adams, who joined Blues from Sheffield United in August, was on a similar scoreless run but popped up to score his third goal for the club with nine minutes remaining.
Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett: "We navigated the difficult periods and finished winning the game.
"Sometimes you can win without playing well in the Championship. You saw Burnley do it last season where you are resolute, keep clean sheets, nick games and don't play well. That is a skill in itself.
"This season we have been much better playing at home. The clean sheet was important and I'm delighted with our home form which includes wins over Norwich City, Sheffield Wednesday and now Bristol City."
Bristol City manager Lee Johnson: "I'm disappointed to come away from the game without any points.
"The games at Championship level are always on a fine balance. I was disappointed with the goal and the mistakes which led up to that goal,
"I cannot be too critical of my side because I thought we were fantastic in the second half. Away from home we took the game to a good side and peppered the final third with runners and quality. It was just that finish and beating the man of the match, Tomasz Kuszczak."
Match ends, Birmingham City 1, Bristol City 0.
Second Half ends, Birmingham City 1, Bristol City 0.
Attempt missed. Lee Tomlin (Bristol City) right footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the left.
Attempt saved. Callum O'Dowda (Bristol City) left footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Tammy Abraham.
Foul by Joe Bryan (Bristol City).
Greg Stewart (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Attempt missed. Che Adams (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the right side of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Greg Stewart.
Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City) is shown the red card.
Lee Tomlin (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jonathan Spector (Birmingham City).
Substitution, Bristol City. Callum O'Dowda replaces Mark Little.
Marlon Pack (Bristol City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Marlon Pack (Bristol City).
Greg Stewart (Birmingham City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt missed. Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Bobby Reid with a cross.
Corner,  Bristol City. Conceded by Ryan Shotton.
Joe Bryan (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Greg Stewart (Birmingham City).
Attempt missed. Jacques Maghoma (Birmingham City) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Maikel Kieftenbeld.
Attempt missed. Aden Flint (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Joe Bryan with a cross.
Corner,  Bristol City. Conceded by David Davis.
Attempt missed. Bobby Reid (Bristol City) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right following a set piece situation.
Bobby Reid (Bristol City) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Jonathan Grounds (Birmingham City).
Substitution, Bristol City. Aaron Wilbraham replaces Gary O'Neil.
Substitution, Bristol City. Korey Smith replaces Jamie Paterson.
Goal!  Birmingham City 1, Bristol City 0. Che Adams (Birmingham City) right footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Michael Morrison following a corner.
Corner,  Birmingham City. Conceded by Joe Bryan.
Substitution, Birmingham City. Greg Stewart replaces David Cotterill.
Attempt missed. Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Bobby Reid following a set piece situation.
Attempt missed. Bobby Reid (Bristol City) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Jamie Paterson with a cross following a set piece situation.
Attempt saved. Lee Tomlin (Bristol City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Michael Morrison (Birmingham City) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Lee Tomlin (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Michael Morrison (Birmingham City).
Attempt saved. David Cotterill (Birmingham City) right footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Jacques Maghoma.
Foul by Lee Tomlin (Bristol City).
David Davis (Birmingham City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Tammy Abraham (Bristol City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Ryan Shotton (Birmingham City).