China's Q3 growth edges down but still beats forecast

GDP up 4.6%, with govt saying there are signs economy is 'stabilising and picking up'

- Joyce ZK Lim

China's growth slowed further in the third quarter of 2024, but narrowly exceeded market expectations, underscoring the challenges that policymakers face as they ramp up efforts to set a flagging economy back on track. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 4.6 per cent year on year between July and September, official data released on Oct 18 showed, edging down from 4.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, to reach its lowest level in six quarters.

Still, it beat the 4.5 per cent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, on the back of better-than-expected data in September, which recorded improvements in factory output, retail sales and fixed asset investments.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing, national statistics bureau deputy commissioner Sheng Laiyun said there were signs that the world's second-largest economy was "stabilising and picking up", with "marginal improvements" across several indicators in September.

But he also acknowledged that this was "still preliminary", and that foundations for an economic upturn are "not yet solid". More will be done to accelerate the implementation of policies to boost the economy, he said.

Since late September, China's policymakers have unleashed a sweeping drive to reverse the downward trajectory of the nation's economy and attain a growth target of around 5 per cent in 2024.