Gross domestic product (GDP) rose just 6.0% year-on-year, marking a further loss of momentum for the economy from the second quarter’s 6.2% growth. Nie Wen, a Shanghai-based economist at Hwabao Trust, pinned the worse-than-expected GDP growth mainly to weakness in export-related industries, especially the manufacturing sector. “Authorities will loosen policies, but in a more restrained way.”The third-quarter GDP growth was the slowest since the first quarter of 1992, the earliest quarterly data on record, and missed forecasts for 6.1% growth in a Reuters poll of analysts. Hwabao Trust’s Nie does not expect stronger manufacturing to last given slowing global demand, which would suggest a pick up in broader economic growth remains unlikely. In another positive sign, China’s property investment stayed buoyant in September, boosted by a rise in new construction activity.

Source: bd News24 October 18, 2019 04:41 UTC