By Sarah White
MADRID (Reuters) - China's cooling growth prospects and an interest rate decision in Russia will shift the economic agenda away from the euro zone next week, although Greece remains firmly in the spotlight because of its precarious funding outlook.
China should provide further hints of the challenges it faces after the world's No. 2 economy depicted its "new normal" last week -- a growth target of 7 percent for this year, the lowest for quarter of a century.
Chinese retail sales growth is expected by some analysts to have slowed slightly in February, with industrial production and investment growth data due out next week seen weaker too.
As Chinese leaders try to mould a more balanced long-term growth model, keeping the breakneck economic expansion of recent decades in check, all eyes will be on the reforms they are expected to outline further in the coming days.
"Asia will be firmly in focus," Standard Chartered analyst Madhur Jha said. "The (Chinese) government is likely to emphasize the need for deeper structural reforms to ensure more sustainable growth, even if it is likely to be softer in the near term."
As markets digest China's warning shots, the euro zone's ups and downs will not be far from investors' minds.
A four-month respite for Athens after it extended a bailout program has done little to ease concerns that Greece may face a cash crunch before then.
Its funding options will take center-stage at a Monday meeting of euro zone finance ministers, who will discuss the economic reforms Athens hopes will help it unlock some financial aid from international lenders.
The government sent an updated list of reforms to Brussels on Friday and said it wanted to start talks with lenders immediately on concluding its bailout and a possible follow-up deal. It also repaid part of an International Monetary Fund loan that falls due this month.
With Greece insisting it has breathing space, the Eurogroup session is unlikely to prompt any key decisions on Athens' next steps. Worries about the country's prospects beyond June are adding to tensions, however, as European officials wrangle over the chances of a third rescue package.
Greece's travails come against a rosier backdrop for the euro zone, after the European Central Bank, which kicks off its $1 trillion government bond-buying plan on Monday, raised growth forecasts.
Industrial production figures for the single currency area, due on Thursday, are expected to support this encouraging picture, rising slightly after a year-on-year fall in December, and echoing a strong start to the year for German output.