Tourists enjoy the night view along the Jialing River in Chongqing, China, on February 15, 2023.
Video Visual China Group | Getty Images
China’s economic growth in the third quarter beat expectations, raising hopes that the world’s second-largest economy will meet Beijing’s annual target this year.
China recorded 4.9% year-on-year growth in the July-September period, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
This is higher than the 4.6% GDP expected by economists polled by Reuters in the third quarter. This follows a 6.3% increase in the April-June period and a 4.5% increase in the January-March period.
China’s economy grew by 1.3% in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter, beating economists’ expectations of 0.9% growth. GDP in the second quarter increased by 0.8% from the previous quarter.
China also released monthly statistics on Wednesday, reporting that industrial production rose 4.5% in September from a year earlier, and retail sales surged 5.5%, both better than market expectations.
The unemployment rate in September fell to 5% from 5.2% the previous month.
The latest announcements, along with monthly figures released last week, further highlight what China’s top leaders are calling a “tortuous” post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
China’s consumer prices remained flat in September, on the verge of deflation, but the annual rate of decline in the producer price index slowed for the third consecutive month. Exports in September fell less than expected, but imports were slightly worse than expected.
Total loans, a broad measure of credit availability, rose 9% in September, slightly more than expected. The larger-than-expected decline in new bank lending was offset by strong government bond issuance and shadow banking credit expansion.
This is a developing story. Please check back for future updates.
