Thursday 18 October 2012

CHINA’S 3Q12 GDP GROWTH: 7.4%

The Financial Express

CHINA ECONOMY SLOWS FOR 7TH QUARTER

Agencies

The Financial Express, October 18, 2012

China likely hit the bottom of a seven-quarter long economic slowdown between July and September, but the slowest three months of growth since the depths of the global financial crisis and a cloudy housing market outlook make recovery prospects tepid.

China's mammoth GDP grew 7.4 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, in line with forecasts of economists polled who expected the first miss of the official target since Q1 2009's 6.5 percent.

Industrial production, retail sales and investment data were all slightly ahead of forecasts, however, and quarter-on-quarter GDP growth was strong, suggesting the worst may be over and the world's No.2 economy will pick up in the final quarter - as a once-a-decade leadership transition gets under way in Beijing.

Those fearing a hard landing will be able to sleep a little better tonight, but those positioned for a clear recovery might be disappointed, Alistair Thornton, senior China economist at IHS Global Insight wrote in a client note.

The picture is one of emerging stabilisation, not the return of unbridled optimism.

(...) [article here]

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