China’s growth rebound tops forecasts to close in on annual goal
The improvement in the economy should give policymakers some breathing room, allowing them to hold off on further easing.
China's economy grew more rapidly than anticipated in the third quarter, bringing the country closer to meeting its annual economic target and reducing the likelihood of further easing measures. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.5% year-on-year in the third quarter, up from 4.3% growth in the previous quarter.
This was slightly higher than the median forecast of 4.4% from economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The cumulative expansion for the first nine months of 2022 reached 4.6%, aligning with Beijing's target of 4.5% to 5% for the full year. "Increased fiscal spending contributed to both fixed asset investment and retail sales," noted Xing Zhaopeng, a senior China strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.
However, the recovery remains tentative due to unstable fiscal outlooks. "The question will be how much fiscal expansion can achieve in the future," said Xing. "There is still a downside risk to our 2027 growth target."
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
