China has announced a series of measures over the past week aimed at boosting the economy ahead of a key Politburo meeting later this week that will focus on reviewing the first-half performance of the world’s second-largest economy.
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China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported on Friday that third-quarter GDP grew at an annual rate of 4.6%, slightly higher than the 4.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
This was lower than the 4.7% annual growth rate in the second quarter. On a quarterly basis, growth was 0.9% in the third quarter, compared with 0.7% in the second quarter.
“The national economy showed signs of positive growth in September,” Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference, according to CNBC’s Chinese translation.
Other data Also released on FridayData such as retail sales and industrial production also topped expectations, a hopeful sign for the world’s second-largest economy.
Beijing faces growing public scrutiny over its ability to meet its annual growth target of “around 5%.”
Xu Tianchen, senior economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said, “With real GDP growth of 4.8% in the first three quarters of this year, and through additional stimulus in the fourth quarter, the full-year GDP growth target of around 5% can already be achieved.”
“Despite facing many challenges, China’s economy is not as hopeless as some people say,” Xu added. “Given the government’s commitment to boosting the economy, there is reason to be more optimistic about growth in the coming years.”
After a series of disappointing economic data, Chinese officials announced last month A series of support measures were taken to boost the flagging economy, including cutting the amount of cash banks need on hand by 50 basis points.
Authorities have continued to roll out more stimulus measures this month amid sluggish consumer confidence and a sluggish real estate sector. weekend, Chinese Finance Minister Lan told reporters The central government has room to increase debt and deficits, but has not disclosed the exact size of the plan.
In the latest round of financing, China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced on Thursday that it would expand a “white list” of real estate projects and speed up bank lending for these unfinished development projects, increasing the loan size to 4 trillion yuan by the end of the year. ($561.8 billion).
This is a development story. Please check back later for updates.
