China’s economy expanded at the slowest annual pace in a year in the July-to-September period, growing 4.8 percent, weighed down by trade tensions with the US and slack domestic demand.
That was the weakest pace of growth since the third quarter of last year, and compared with a 5.2 percent growth in the previous quarter, the Chinese government said in a report yesterday.
In the January-to-September period, the world’s second-largest economy grew at a 5.2 percent annual pace, the report said.
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Despite US President Donald Trump’s higher tariffs on imports from China, exports have remained relatively strong, as companies expanded sales to other world markets.
Exports to the US fell 27 percent last month from the year before, even though growth in its global exports hit a six-month high, climbing 8.3 percent, government data released last week showed.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and other Chinese Communist Party members convened one of China’s most important political meetings for the year yesterday, where they were to map out economic and social policy goals for the country for the next five years.
The economy slowed in the previous quarter, as the authorities moved to curb fierce price wars in sectors such as the auto industry due to excess capacity.
China is also facing challenges, including a prolonged property sector downturn, which has been affecting consumption and demand.
Data released yesterday showed China’s residential property sales fell 7.6 percent by value in the January-to-September period from a year earlier.
Industrial output rose 6.5 percent year-on-year last month, the fastest pace since June, but retail sales growth slowed to 3 percent from the year before.
S&P Global Ratings estimated nationwide new home sales would fall 8 percent this year from the year before and by 6 percent to 7 percent next year.
The World Bank expected China’s economy to grow at a 4.8 percent annual rate this year.
The Chinese government’s official growth target is about 5 percent.
Investments in factories, equipment and other “fixed assets” fell by 0.5 percent in the previous quarter, underscoring weakness in domestic demand. It was also reflected in prices, which have continued to fall at the consumer and wholesale level.
A Chinese National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson said China has a “solid foundation” to achieve its full-year growth target, but cited external complications — including trade friction with the US and other trading partners, and protectionist policies in many countries — as reasons for the slowdown.
China’s economy is likely to further slow next year, BNP Paribas SA chief China economist Jacqueline Rong (榮靜) said, as property investment in the country “looks [to] continue falling” and the artificial intelligence boom, which helped lift China’s economy and fueled a stock market rally, is expected to moderate.
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