The International Monetary Fund is warning that a sharp downturn in Europe could cut China’s growth rate by nearly half.

The IMF said Beijing should be ready to launch a stimulus to offset the impact of weakening growth abroad if European growth falters due to the continent’s debt crisis.

The Washington-based body is forecasting 8.2% growth for China this year but says that could fall by up to four percentage points if Europe’s crisis results in large reductions in output.

World Bank, the IMF’s sibling organization, told China and other developing countries last month they should prepare for a possible global slowdown that it warned might hit them harder than the 2008 economic crisis.