China’s GDP ‘rebounded significantly’ in third quarter, state planning body says
- The National Development and Reform Commission says China’s economic performance has been ‘outstanding’ from a global point of view
- Unlike much of the world, China’s consumer inflation is only marginal, the job market steady and international payments stable, state planner says
China’s top economic planning agency has ramped up positive rhetoric about the economy on the sidelines of the 20th party congress, saying that growth “rebounded significantly” in the third quarter and remained “outstanding” when compared with the rest of the world.
The comments came as China was expected to release its third-quarter economic data on Tuesday. But according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the release of the data, which was expected to include the gross domestic product growth rate, has been delayed.
No further information was given about a timetable for the data’s release. China also did not release its September trade data as expected on Friday, two days before the start of the 20th party congress.
Most analysts expect China to fall short of its 2022 growth target of “around 5.5 per cent”, with many forecasting expansion of around 3.6 per cent. Estimations aggregated by Chinese financial data provider Wind show the economy may have grown by 3.7 per cent in the most recent quarter.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank recently slashed their 2022 growth outlook for the country to 3.2 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively, which could be China’s lowest growth rates in four decades, excluding the initial coronavirus crisis in 2020.