• Gross domestic product rose 6.8% yoy in 3Q17

• Retail sales jumped 10.3% yoy in September

• Industrial production rose 6.6% yoy in September

• Fixed-asset investment climbed 7.5% in first nine months of this year

• Steady growth expected for 4Q17

China's economy grew at a 6.8% pace in 3Q17, following a 6.9% yoy growth in the previous two quarters. It was the weakest expansion since the 4Q16, mainly due to a slowdown in fixed-asset investment while industrial output and retail sales continued to increase. Still, the economy remains on track to meet the government's growth target of about 6.5% this year after the economy grew 6.7% in 2016 — the weakest pace in 26 years.

The pace of nominal growth held up, with GDP in current prices up 11.2% yoy in 3Q, a slight improvement on 11.1% in 2Q. GDP in the third quarter grew 1.7% qoq, compared with growth of 1.8% in April-June, which was revised up from initially reported 1.7% growth.

The latest figures came as the Communist Party holds its five-yearly congress to decide the leadership team around President Xi Jinping and the party's direction for the next half-decade and beyond. President Xi Jinping’s opening address at the start of the 19th National Congress offered no major surprises as he reiterated the major goals and plans that have already been mooted in the past 5 years, highlighting on-going policies including upgrading of manufacturing sector, State on Enterprise (SoE) reform, rebalancing towards consumption, market reforms, market based interest rate and exchange rate and Belt & Road Initiative. Since the 18th National Congress in 2012, China’s nominal GDP rose from CNY54tn to CNY80tn (about USD8.2tn to USD12.1tn) over the past five years.

Source: BIMB Securities Research - 20 Oct 2017