China posts 3.9% Q3 GDP growth; President Xi secures third term

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–China posted an annualised GDP growth of 3.9% in the third quarter, up from 0.4% in the previous quarter, but a combination of a zero-COVID policy and a property downturn will continue to weigh on the world’s second-biggest economy.

This brings the average growth for the first nine months of 2022 at 3.0%, preliminary data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show.

The release of the data was delayed from the original schedule of 18 October without explanation.

For the full year, China’s economic growth is expected to slow to around 3.0%, representing a sharp slowdown from the 8.1% pace in 2021, based on projections from multilateral institutions.

No easing of the zero-COVID policy was announced at the conclusion of the week-long 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (NCCPC) in Beijing over the weekend.

As expected, incumbent Chinese President Xi Jinping was granted a historic third term.

Thumbnail image: China President Xi Jinping at the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing – 23 October 2022. (Source: EyePress News/Shutterstock)

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