China’s GDP growth slowed further to 6.0% yoy in Q3, down from 6.2% yoy in Q2 and missed expectation of 6.1% yoy. That’s also the worst pace since Q1 of 1992, the earliest quarterly data on record. National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Mao Shengyong said China was ” faced with mounting risks and challenges both at home and abroad”. But he attempted to tone down the situation and said ” the national economy maintained overall stability … and improved living standard.” He also added there was ample room for adjustments on monetary policy,
The weak data raised concern that the slowdown this year could be worse than originally expected, as trade war with US weigh. While there appears to be some progresses on trade negotiations, the imposed tariffs are remaining. Uncertainties continued to weigh on business sentiments too. Growth could slow further below 6% handle in Q4.
Nevertheless, on the positive side, industrial production grew 5.8% yoy in September, comfortably beat expectations of 5.0% yoy. That’s also a notably improvement from 4.4% yoy in August. Retail sales growth accelerated to 7.8% yoy, up from 7.5% yoy and matched expectations. Fixed asset investment, however, slowed to 5.4% ytd yoy, down from 5.5% and matched expectations.
