China's economic growth slows in third quarter

China’s faltering economic growth slowed in the last quarter, official data released on Friday showed, although the slowdown was not as steep as feared.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, GDP grew by 4.6% in the three months to September end, down on the second quarter’s 4.7% rise.

It also remains below Beijing’s full-year target of around 5%.

However, the reading did narrowly beat forecasts, for growth of 4.5%.

The NBS also said on Friday that retail sales had risen 3.2% year-on-year in September, an above-forecast improvement on August’s 2.1% increase, while industrial production strengthened 5.4%, up from 4.5%.

But the house price index slid 5.7% year-on-year, compounding the previous month’s fall of -5.3%. It was also the fastest pace of decline since May 2015.

The crisis in China’s once red-hot property sector – which at its height accounted for a quarter of the country’s economic activity – is one of the biggest drags on growth.

The country has also struggled with weak consumer confidence domestically, however, and softer global demand.

In response, Beijing has moved to strengthen the economy in recent months with a range of measures, including interest rate cuts, funding the stock market and support for the property sector.

Betty Wang, lead economist at Oxford Economics, said: “We would downplay the importance of better-than-expected key economic indicators in September, given that the structural weakness in the property and household sectors remains largely unaddressed.

“We maintain our 2024 GDP growth forecasts at 4.8%. The recently announced stimulus measures could cushion the downside risks to next year’s growth, but are unlikely to reverse the structural downturn.”

Lynn Song, ING’s chief economist, Greater China, said: “China’s GDP growth is now at 4.8% year-on-year through the first three quarters of the year. The beat in the third-quarter numbers keeps China within striking distance to hit its full-year growth target, and requires a slightly less impressive fourth-quarter growth rate than what was previously expected.”