The Chinese economy grew at an annual 4.9% in the three months to September quarter, slower than forecast but enough to bring the economy nearly back up to the roughly 6% growth rate at the end of 2019.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the 4.9% rate was up from the 3.2% growth seen in the June quarter, but analysts said it. was weaker than the 5.2% growth forecast by the market.
Quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP rose 2.7% in the September quarter, compared with forecasts for a 3.2% rise and an 11.5% rise in the June quarter from the three months to March.
Compared to the same period of 2019, the economy grew 0.7% over the nine months to September 30.
China’s recovery has done less to help the rest of the world than in the past because (up till September) imports have not increased nearly as much as exports.
China’s economic recovery has seen stepped up spending on highways, high-speed train lines and other infrastructure. And in the past two months household consumption has started recovering with retail sales rising.
That has seen growth in industrial output gradually increase – to 6.9% in September from a 5.6% rise in August 9and forecasts for a 5.8% rise) , as more businesses resumed production (which has been confirmed by the state of month surveys of manufacturing activity).
Retail sales climbed 3.3% last month from a year ago, topping forecasts for 1.8% growth compared with August’s very modest 0.5% rise.
Fixed asset investment rose 0.8% in the first nine months of the year from the same period of 2019, compared with a forecast 0.8% rise and a 0.3% fall in the eight months to August.
