They are "slow" in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.

它们的发展是“缓慢的”，原因是发展过程总会伴随着挫折。

youdao

His poetry was slow in achieving recognition.

他的诗迟迟得不到赏识。

《牛津词典》

How come the UK has been slow in imposing the tourist tax?

为什么英国在征收旅游税方面行动迟缓？

youdao

The stock market crash marked the beginning of the Great Depression -- a long,slow,painful fall to the worst economic crisis in American history.

VOA: special.2011.02.17

That ratio may have been higher in the nineteenth century; it's gradually trending down, but it's a slow-moving thing.

在19世纪这个比率要高一些,然后逐渐下降,但这是个缓慢变化的过程

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

Let me just give some example of-- sometimes people are very slow to see the obvious, or it seems so in history.

我来举些例子-,有时人们对显见之物的反应反而比较滞后，起码从历史上来看是这样的。

耶鲁公开课 - 金融市场课程节选

Today he confirms that shift in a new column for Bloomberg- Chinese Property Bust Is Morphing Into a Slow Leak-in which he says Chinese real estate prices have peaked and will decline, but much more slowly than he expects.

FORBES: Andy Xie's New Call On China Real Estate

The stalled growth overseas is likely a consequence of uncertainty in Europe and a slow-down in Asia, says Lazard Capital analyst Matthew DiFrisco.

FORBES: Golden Arches Look Tarnished After McDonald's Sales Growth Stalled Last Month

According to China observer Shaun Rein, the country is already in a labor shortage, which began during the Great Recession, as many American and European companies stepped up investment in China to offset a sales slow-down in their home markets.

FORBES: Why A Labor Shortage Is Good News For The Chinese Economy