Analysis | More signs of mainland growth momentum slowing
Growth target of 7.5 per cent at risk as export demand softens and housing market cools
The mainland economy lost further momentum heading into the fourth quarter as a cooling property market weighed on activity and export demand softened, surveys showed, putting Beijing's official growth target for the year at even greater risk.
Analysts already expect full-year growth to miss the government's full-year target of 7.5 per cent but many still thought there might be some signs of stabilisation late in the year after a flurry of stimulus measures.
Instead, the surveys showed demand at home and abroad continued to cool and the labour market remained under stress, while adding to concerns that many companies were being starved of credit as banks grew more reluctant to lend.
And measures announced in September to shore up the slumping housing market so far do not seem to have much effect.
"Growth momentum is slowing going into the fourth quarter," said Kevin Lai, a senior economist at Daiwa Capital Markets. "Exports were quite strong the last couple of months but that was mostly driven by electronics demand. The orders for iPhones, etc, have cooled again.
"Europe, Japan are still struggling, so that is not good news."
Growth in the services sector slipped to a nine-month low of 53.8 last month, the weakest reading since January, from September's 54, the National Bureau of Statistics said.