* Euro zone, China factory activity sinks to record low
* Japanese officials gloomy, BOJ to hold emergency meeting
* Central banks in Europe, Australia to cut rates this week
* European stocks slide, U.S. poised to follow
By Mike Peacock and Alan Wheatley
LONDON/BEIJING, Dec 1 (Reuters) - European and Chinese industry activity slumped in November, Japanese officials said their economy was slowing rapidly and euro zone finance ministers gathered on Monday to discuss plans to curb recession.
The Bank of Japan called an emergency meeting for Tuesday to find ways to help corporate finance. BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa warned access to funding was becoming increasingly tough for Japanese firms, to an extent comparable with a debilitating credit crunch a decade ago.
"Sluggishness in economic activity has increased rapidly. Overseas economies are experiencing the same kind of rapid change," Shirakawa said of the broader Japanese economy.
Euro zone manufacturing activity sank to a record low in November and the outlook was equally grim.
The Markit Eurozone Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector slumped to 35.6 in November, a low not seen in the survey's 11-year history and way below the 50 mark that separates expansions from contraction.
"The extremely weak ... survey intensifies fears that the euro zone's recession will be deep and prolonged," said Howard Archer, economist at IHS Global Insight.
The euro zone was officially declared in recession this month following a second quarterly contraction in economic output. Analysts do not see the economy growing again until the third quarter next year -- and then only marginally.
The financial crisis that began with a U.S. housing market collapse last year has already knocked several big economies into recession, including the euro zone. Most economists believe the United States and Britain will soon follow.
Similar surveys from China showed its manufacturing industry slumped in November as new orders tumbled, showing the world's fourth-largest economy being sucked deeper into the global maelstrom.
Japan's economy minister was gloomier even than Shirakawa.
"We are moving to the next phase of shrinking consumption -- some call it deflation -- production going down and prices going down," Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano told the Financial Times in an interview published on Monday.
RATE CUTS COMING
Central banks in Britain, the euro zone, Australia and New Zealand are expected to cut borrowing costs sharply this week in response to the crisis. Politicians are also poised to weigh in.
Euro zone finance ministers meet later on Monday to pick over a menu of economic measures drawn up by the European Commission, which could inject up to 200 billion euros ($258.8 billion) of government spending, although that figure includes national schemes already announced.
Agreement may prove elusive. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told her party on Monday the government, which has unveiled a 32 billion euro plan, would not take part in a "senseless" competition to spend billions more.
"We will not take part in a competition to outdo one another with an endless list of new proposals, in a senseless contest over billions," Merkel said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy criticised Merkel's lukewarm reaction last week, saying: "While France is working, Germany is thinking."
Stocks slid, with investors caught between aggressive steps by central banks and ever weaker economic data.
European shares shed 3 percent and stock futures pointed to a lower start on Wall Street ahead of U.S. manufacturing data, which are also forecast to offer up a bleak reading.
Inflation in Thailand, South Korea and Australia plunged in November in synch with a global retreat, giving central banks room to slash interest rates further to soften the blow from the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.
Expectations for more rate cuts in Britain were underlined by the UK's PMI index showing manufacturing shrank at a record pace in November after a collapse in new orders.
Australia's central bank is expected to slash its benchmark rate by at least 75 basis points on Tuesday on top of 200 basis points of cuts since early September.
The European Central Bank and Bank of England deliver their verdicts on Thursday.
CONSUMERS CAUTIOUS
Hopes the consumer may ride to the rescue looked optimistic.
Auto makers in Sweden, France, Spain, Japan and South Korea all reported tumbling sales, taking fresh hits from plunging consumer confidence on the world's car lots.
German retail sales rose slightly in October but with unemployment expected to rise, the outlook is cloudy.
Sales, including turnover at gas stations and cars, rose by 0.4 percent, Bundesbank data showed. A narrower measure showed a decline of 1.6 percent on the month.
In the United States, shoppers tried to take advantage of rock-bottom sales prices over the holiday weekend, traditionally the start of the busiest period of the year for U.S. retailers.
However, the weekend of activity did not necessarily augur well for retailers' bottom line.
"Regardless of retail sales, retail profits are another matter. Everything they sold was at a razor-thin margin," said Ellen Davis of the National Retail Federation. (Editing by Mark Trevelyan)