BEIJING: China’s economy grew 4.9 per cent on-year in the third quarter, sustaining its rebound from bruising virus lockdowns and moving closer to pre-pandemic levels, official data showed on Monday.

But the world’s second-largest economy grew slightly below expectations in the July-September period, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed, which warned of uncertainty ahead as “the international environment is still complicated”.

China’s recovery has so far put it on track to be the only major economy expanding this year, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts, while nations around the world continue to struggle with lockdowns and new waves of infections.

Analysts polled by AFP earlier pegged third-quarter growth in China, where the coronavirus first surfaced, at 5.2pc from a year ago, up from the second quarter’s 3.2 percent rise.

NBS data also showed retail sales grew faster than expected in September at 3.3pc, up from 0.5pc growth on-year the month before.

But this still lagged behind industrial output growth, which came in stronger than expected at 6.9pc from a year ago last month.

Published in Dawn, October 20th, 2020