Government data released on Wednesday showed that China's economy grew 6.7 percent on-year during the July-September quarter, unchanged from the previous three months. The data was in line with market expectations and looks set to hit Beijing's full-year target.
Seperate data showed industrial output in September expanded 6.1 percent on-year, below consensus for a 6.4 percent expansion, while retail sales rose 10.7 percent on-year, a tad better than the anticipated 10.6 percent rise. Meanwhile, fixed asset investment for January-September climbed 8.2 percent on-year, in line with forecasts.
Growth was fueled by stronger government spending, record bank lending and a red-hot property market that are adding to its growing pile of debt. China's credit growth continues to outstrip nominal GDP growth, building on an already enormous base of outstanding debt.
Data released by the People’s Bank of China on Tuesday showed that China’s new loan growth surged 29 percent on month in September as China’s banks extended 1.22 trillion yuan (US$181 billion) in net new yuan loans in September, compared to 948.7 billion yuan in August.
"The official GDP figures remain too stable to tell us much about the performance of China's economy. Our own measure of economic activity suggests that growth actually picked up last quarter, though the improvement clearly won't last," Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist at Capital Economics in Singapore wrote in a note.
