BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese economy grew in the third quarter at a faster pace than expected, while consumption also accelerated in September, suggesting that its recent rebound could allow it to reach the target of annual growth set by Beijing.
A range of recent stimulus measures have allowed the world’s second-largest economy to stabilize, but the prolonged crisis in the real estate sector, fears over employment and deterioration in private business confidence are among the risks weighing on this positive dynamic.
According to data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 4.9% in the July-September period, beating the consensus of +4.4%.
However, this is less significant growth than in the second quarter (+6.3%).
On a quarterly basis, Chinese GDP grew by 1.3%, again beating the expectations of economists who anticipated an increase of 1.0% on average.
Beijing has set a growth target of around 5% for 2023.
Official data also shows that industrial production exceeded expectations in September, with an increase of 4.5% year-on-year, identical to the previous month. The consensus was +4.3%.
A key indicator of consumption, retail sales increased by 5.5% last month, against a consensus of +4.9%, after an increase of 4.6% in August.
(Reporting Ellen Zhang, Joe Cash and Kevin Yao; Jean Terzian)
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