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China’s GDP set to underperform in third quarter, adds to urgency for more stimulus
China set to release its third quarter gross domestic product data on Friday following a recent raft of stimulus measures
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Frank Chenin Shanghai
All eyes are on China’s third quarter economic data release on Friday as a gauge to whether the “around 5 per cent” full-year growth goal is still within grasp.
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Stakes are seen to be higher than ever as the window for stimulus is seen to be closing and Beijing is being urged to do more to jolt the world’s second-largest economy.
Questions have been raised if more stimulus is needed, but analysts said it is already too late for Beijing to tread the old path to reboot the economy if its goal is to only ensure this year’s growth target is met.
But there is a window of opportunity, they added, to reorient stimulus towards the long term to boost incomes, spending and sentiment.
“Third-quarter numbers will likely disappoint more and underperform the second quarter’s 4.7 per cent year on year growth, piling on Beijing’s woes,” said Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong.
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“This is why Beijing has been proactively introducing stimulus at the end of the third quarter.
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