China Q3 GDP grows 6.7%, in line with expectations

BEIJING — China's economy grew 6.7 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, steady from the previous quarter and in line with market expectations, as increased government spending and a property boom offset stubbornly weak exports.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted gross domestic product (GDP) would grow 6.7 per cent in the July-September period, unchanged from the second quarter and the first quarter.

While fears of a hard landing have eased this year, recent data also have highlighted growing imbalances in the world's second-largest economy, with growth increasingly dependent on government spending and ballooning debt as private investment tumbles to record lows.

The high-flying property market is also beginning to show signs of overheating.

Gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday,  in line with market forecasts and compared with revised 1.9 per cent quarterly growth in the second quarter.

The government has set a growth target of 6.5-7 per cent for the full year. The economy expanded 6.9 per cent in 2015, the slowest pace in a quarter of a century.

The statistics bureau said in a statement that many uncertain factors in the economy remain and that the foundation for sustained growth is not solid. REUTERS