BEIJING: China’s economy expanded at its slowest rate in nearly threedecades during the third quarter, held back by cooling domestic demand anda protracted US trade war, according to an AFP survey of analysts.
Gross domestic product (GDP) figures due on Friday are expected to showthat the Chinese economy expanded 6.0 percent in July-September, comparedwith 6.2 percent in the second quarter, the poll of 13 economists predicted.
The reading would mark the worst quarterly figure since 1992 but be withinthe government’s target range of 6.0-6.5 percent for the whole year. Theeconomy grew at 6.6 percent in 2018.
Beijing has stepped up support for the economy with major tax and rate cutsand has scrapped foreign investment restrictions in its stock market.
In its latest measure to shore up growth, the central bank said Wednesdayit was pumping 200 billion yuan ($28 billion) into the financial systemthrough its medium-term lending facility to banks, which is designed tomaintain liquidity in the market.
But the efforts have not been enough to offset the blow from softeningdemand at home.
The trade conflict and weak domestic demand prompted the InternationalMonetary Fund to lower its 2019 growth forecast for China from 6.2 percentto 6.1 percent on Tuesday.
The long-running trade war with the US has also chipped away at the Chineseeconomy.
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This week, China reported weaker-than-expected import and export figuresfor September after Washington imposed new tariffs that month, triggering atit-for-tat response from Beijing.
“Trade conflict with the US remains a wild card,” said Tommy Wu from OxfordAnalytics.
“Elevated US-China tension will continue to weigh on the external outlook,despite the delay of additional US tariff imposition on a range of consumergoods… And we think that a US-China trade deal remains unlikely any timesoon.”
A partial US-China deal announced by President Donald Trump last weekoffers a temporary reprieve from further tariff hikes.
But this initial agreement — which included increasing purchases of US farmproducts and protections for intellectual property — will take weeks tofinalise and does not tackle thornier issues such as Chinese subsidies tostate firms.
