China's economy grew 4.8% in the third quarter, slightly above estimates, laying a "solid foundation" for achieving the full-year expansion goal of around 5%, informed Bloomberg.
The growth is driven by an export boom, with Chinese factories flooding the world with exports at record levels, while domestic economy indicators such as retail sales and investment are slowing down.
“The bottom line here is that the growth is slowing down, but with huge divergence,” said Ning Zhang, an economist at UBS Group AG in Hong Kong, to Bloomberg. “The exports and industrial production beat expectation, but domestic economy like retail sales and investment is all slowing down.”
The data arrives as top officials gather in Beijing to hash out development plans, with investors watching whether President Xi Jinping will throw policy weight behind plans to rebalance the economy toward domestic consumption.
