China’s GDP Grows Slower Than Expected in Q3

Investing.com - China’s third quarter GDP grew slower than expected, data showed on Friday.

China’s economic growth in the third quarter slowed more than expected to 6.0% from last year, the National Bureau of Statistic reported. Analysts expected GDP to grow 6.1% year-on-year.

Meanwhile, industrial output gained 5.8% year-on-year in September, compared with a 5.0% growth expected by analysts.

Retail sales rose by 7.8% year-on-year, in line with expectations.

Fixed asset investment grew 5.4% year to date, also matching expectations.

“Momentum has been easing since the second half of 2018, driven by industrial weakness and moderating consumer demand,” said Li Wei, a senior economist at Standard Chartered, in a Bloomberg report.

“The protracted U.S.-China dispute, which now goes well beyond just trade, has hit the sentiment badly. More policy stimulus can be expected as growth is now on the brink of sliding below the official target.”

Other analysts said China’s economy could slow further.

“Despite a stronger September, pressure on economic activity should intensify in the coming months,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.

“Cooling global demand will continue to weigh on exports, fiscal constraints mean that infrastructure spending will wane in the near-term and the recent boom in property construction looks set to unwind,” added in a note cited by CNBC.

China’s stock markets opened in the green earlier in the day, but traded lower following the release of the data.

The Shanghai Composite last traded at 2,959.76 by 12:22 AM ET (04:22 GMT), down 0.6%. The Shenzhen Component lost 0.4% to 9,603.88.

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