China’s economic recovery firms up in Q3 with 4.9% growth

BEIJING (Xinhua): China’s economic recovery picked up steam in the third quarter as activities normalised amid effective control of the novel coronavirus and the Government’s sweeping efforts to stimulate demand and consumption, official data showed Monday.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded 4.9% year on year in Q3, faster than the 3.2% growth seen in Q2, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday. In the first three quarters, the country’s GDP expanded 0.7% year on year, returning to growth after the 1.6% contraction in the first half of the year and the 6.8% slump in Q1, the data showed.

To soften the impact of the COVID-19 shock, the Government has rolled out a raft of measures, including more fiscal spending, tax relief, and cuts in lending rates and banks’ reserve requirements to stabilise growth and employment.

As the epidemic is largely brought under control domestically, factories and schools have reopened and tourist sites across the country have resumed their usual hustle and bustle.

In Q3, major indicators returned to positive territory, with industrial output rising 5.8% and retail sales reporting the first quarterly expansion this year, up 0.9% year on year.

The country’s fixed-asset investment went up 0.8% year on year in the first three quarters, reversing a decline of 3.1% in the first half of this year.

Per capita disposable income rose 0.6% in the first nine months, compared with a decline of 1.3% in H1.

“Seen from the trends of the key indicators, China’s epidemic prevention and economic recovery are at the world’s forefront, which shows the strong resilience and vitality of the economy,” said Liu Aihua, Spokesperson of the NBS.

Despite the across-the-board improvements, the foundation for sustainable recovery requires further consolidation due to global uncertainties and uneven performance at home, Liu cautioned.

“Overall, China has the foundation, conditions and confidence to maintain the current trend in Q4 and the full year,” Liu added.

In the latest World Economic Outlook report released earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected China’s economy to grow by 1.9% in 2020, 0.9 percentage points above the IMF’s June forecast, making it the only major economy that will see positive growth this year.