BEIJING , Oct 18 — China’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected clip in the third quarter, data showed on Wednesday, while domestic consumption also picked up pace last month, suggesting the recent recovery may carry enough steam to reach Beijing’s full-year growth target.
The world’s second-biggest economy has started to show signs of stabilising thanks to a recent slew of policy measures, but a protracted property crisis, uncertainties over employment and household income and weak confidence among private firms pose risks to a durable revival.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.9 per cent in July-September from the year earlier, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed, versus analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4.4 per cent increase but slower than the 6.3 per cent expansion in the second quarter.
On a quarter-by-quarter basis, GDP grew 1.3 per cent in the third quarter, accelerating from a revised 0.5 per cent in the second quarter and above the forecast for growth of 1.0 per cent.
The economy faltered in the second quarter after a brief post-Covid recovery, dragged by a property downturn and huge debt due to a decades-long infrastructure binge.
Beijing has in recent weeks unveiled a raft of measures, including more public works spending, interest rate cuts, property easing and efforts to shore up the private sector.
The government has set a full year 2023 growth target of around 5.0 per cent.
Industrial output in September grew a stronger than expected 4.5 per cent from a year earlier, but the pace was unchanged from August, according to the data. Analysts had expected a 4.3 per cent increase.
Growth of retail sales, a gauge of consumption, also beat expectations, rising 5.5 per cent last month, and accelerating from a 4.6 per cent increase in August. Analysts had expected retail sales to expand 4.9 per cent.
Fixed asset investment grew 3.1 per cent in the first nine months of 2023 from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.2 per cent rise. It expanded 3.2 per cent in the January-August period.
Property investment in the first nine months of 2023 fell by 9.1 per cent from a year earlier, after slumping 8.8 per cent in January-August, the data showed.
— Reuters
