China’s Q3 result to pave way for 3% growth

BEIJING: The Chinese economy bounced back into positive territory — growing 0.7 percent — in the first three quarters of the year after the country has put Covid-19 epidemic under control, official data showed on Monday, as analysts predicted a further recovery would be sustained in the upcoming fourth quarter to ensure a whole-year GDP growth of 2-3 percent.

China's GDP in the third quarter expanded 4.9 percent year-on-year, as the country's economic recovery accelerates amid recovering domestic consumption, better-than-expected exports and improving investments.

Although GDP growth from July to September missed initial expectations shown in a Reuters poll, analysts said the third quarter's performance underscored China's strong momentum for recovery in wake of the global pandemic that has so far infected 40 million people worldwide as of Oct. 20, 2020.

China's status in leading and facilitating the global recovery has been further confirmed upon the release of these economic data, they said.

China's GDP in the first three quarters totaled 72.28 trillion yuan ($10.80 trillion), with retail sales in the third quarter bouncing back into positive territory for the first time this year and fixed-asset investment growing for the first time from January to September.

China also completed 99.8 percent of its 2020's target to create 9 million jobs in urban areas, National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Liu Aihua said.

"A 4.9-percent-reading already shows that China has taken the lead in realizing economic recovery even as the global economy enters a recession due to the pandemic," Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Monday, noting that floods in the most recent summer months and declining global investment from political turmoil may have dragged down growth prospects by a notch.

China's industrial output rose by 5.8 percent in the third quarter and exports jumped 10.2 percent year-on-year, according to NBS.

"Pre-epidemic-level readings have already been reached for fixed-asset investments, exports and industrial value-added services, proving that China has successfully shaken off the pandemic's negative impact," Liao Qun, chief economist at China CITIC Bank in Hong Kong, told the Global Times.