China's Economic Growth Eases To 4.9% In Third Quarter

Slower-than-expected industrial activity due to electricity shortages the main drag on growth, say analysts

- Aw Cheng Wei

China’s economy grew 4.9 per cent in the third quarter of this year as the world’s second-largest economy continued to slow down against the backdrop of energy shortages, fresh Covid-19 outbreaks and a more sombre property market in the country.

The quarterly result released yesterday was largely in line with the expectations of analysts of 5 per cent in an earlier Bloomberg poll.

China reported 18.3 per cent year-on-year growth from January to March, and 7.9 per cent in the following three months, compared with the same period last year.

So far, the economy has grown 9.8 per cent this year, higher than the “above 6 per cent” target set during the National People’s Congress (NPC) session in Beijing in March. The NPC is China’s Parliament.

“Overall, the economy maintained the recovery momentum in the first three quarters,” National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Linghui told the media yesterday.

“But uncertainties in the international environment are mounting, and domestic economic recovery is still unstable and uneven,” he said.

Analysts told The Straits Times that slower-than-expected industrial activity due to electricity shortages was the main drag on growth in the third quarter.