Slower property, construction sectors drag on China’s growth
Service industries, however, one of the bright spots as government gives detailed breakdown of nation’s third-quarter GDP figures
China posted relatively solid economic growth in the third quarter, driven by a stronger services industry, although there were signs of weakness in real estate and construction as property cooling measures start to bite, data showed on Friday.
China’s property sector grew 3.9 per cent in the quarter from a year earlier, decelerating from 6.2 per cent in the second quarter and the slowest pace in nearly two years, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a more detailed breakdown of third-quarter GDP data issued on Thursday.
Growth in construction activity slowed from 5.4 per cent in the second quarter to four per cent, the weakest expansion since the fourth quarter of 2000, the data showed.
Property and construction together account for 13.3 per cent of the economy, with property alone directly impacting 40 other industries.
Softening in those sectors appeared to be the main drag on otherwise fairly resilient China data on Thursday. Third-quarter growth eased only slightly to 6.8 per cent from 6.9 per cent in the previous quarter, as had been widely expected.
Analysts have long predicted a slowdown in the property sector and construction after city governments began rolling out a flurry of measures from late last year to cool soaring home prices and deter speculators.