China’s economic growth weakened in the third quarter as a property slowdown and energy shortages highlighted the country’s incomplete recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, posing a formidable challenge to President Xi Jinping’s policy agenda.
Gross domestic product grew 4.9 per cent in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. But compared to the second quarter this year growth was just 0.2 per cent.
The figures add to the pressure building on Xi as he enters the final year of his second term and pursues an ambitious “common prosperity” agenda to regulate high incomes and “encourage high-income groups and enterprises to return more to society”.