BeIJING, Oct 18 Reuters : China's economy grew at the slowest rate in the third quarter of a year in China — hurt by power shortages, supply bottlenecks and convulsions of COVID - 19 to cause discomfort to policymakers amid rising jitters over the property sector.
Data on Monday showed Gross Domestic Product GDP grew 4.9% from a previous, the weakest pace since the first quarter of 2020 and slowing from 7.9% in the second quarter.
That marked a further deceleration from the 18.3% expansion in the first quarter, when the year-on-year growth rate was heavily flattered by the very low comparison seen during COVID-induced slump of early 2020.
In a Reuters poll of analysts, Reuters had estimated GDP to rise 5.2% in the third quarter.
On a quarterly basis, growth eased in July-September to 1.3% from the second quarter of 2007.
The world's second largest economy rebounded from the pandemic but the recovery is losing steam, weighed by faltering factory activity, persistently soft consumption and a slowing property sector as policy curbs bite.
Global worries about a possible spillover of credit risk from China's real estate sector into the broader economy have also intensified as global developer Beijing Evergrande Group grapples with more than $300 billion of debt.
Chinese leaders, fearful that a persistent property bubble could undermine the country's long-term ascent, are likely to maintain tough curbs on the sector even as the economy slows, but can soften some tactics as needed, policy sources and analysts said.
Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday that China has ample tools to respond to economic challenges despite slowing growth, and the government is confident of reaching full-year development goals.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected the PBOC to reduce banks' reserve requirement ratio in the first quarter before reducing another 50 basis points in the fourth quarter of 2022.
September's manufacturing output rose 3.1% from a year earlier, below expectations and down from August's 5.3%. Retail sales grew 4.4% in September, beating 2.5% in August.