China’s GDP grew 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter, accelerating from 3.2% growth the previous quarter, official data (link in Chinese) showed Monday, as the world’s second-largest economy continued to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The third-quarter economic growth rate was lower than the median estimate of 5.4% growth (link in Chinese) in a Caixin survey of economists. The GDP for the first three quarters grew 0.7% year-on-year, back in positive territory after being dragged down by a 6.8% contraction in the first quarter at the height of China’s Covid-19 outbreak.
Major economic indicators show that consumption, industrial output and investment all improved last month.
Retail sales, which include spending by households, governments and businesses, rose 3.3% year-on-year in September, accelerating from a 0.5% rise in August, according to data (link in Chinese) by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The reading was better than the median forecast of a 2.5% increase in the Caixin survey.
Value-added industrial output, which measures production by factories, mines and utilities, grew 6.9% year-on-year (link in Chinese) in September, accelerating from a 5.6% increase the previous month. The reading was better than the median forecast of a 5.9% rise in the Caixin survey.
Fixed-asset investment, a key driver of domestic demand that includes infrastructure spending, rose 0.8% year-on-year (link in Chinese) in the first nine months, reversing a 0.3% drop over the first eight months, and the same as the median forecast in the Caixin survey.
Infrastructure investment, which consists of spending on construction of roads and railways and is generally led by the government, rose 0.2% year-on-year in the first nine months, moving into positive territory for the first time this year after recording a 0.3% decline in the January-to-August period.
Investment in real estate development remained strong, rising 5.6% year-on-year (link in Chinese) in the first nine months, accelerating from a 4.6% rise in the January-to-August period.
The labor market also improved as China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate eased to 5.4% in September from 5.6% the previous month, NBS data showed. Jobs created in urban areas reached 8.98 million in the first three quarters, roughly hitting the annual target of 9 million.
Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com) and editor Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com)
