China growth rate – weakest since 1992

China’s economic growth fell to 6.0 percent in the third quarter of this year, its lowest level in 27 years. In the second quarter, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was still at 6.2 percent.

Combined, China’s growth rate for all three quarters is 6.2 percent and thus still within the Chinese government’s annual target of 6 to 6.5 percent. Nevertheless, the downward trend is evident. Also the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects China’s growth to slow further. For this year, the IMF has lowered its forecast for China to 6.1 percent and next year to 5.8 percent.

Trade dispute weighs on China’s economic growth

Experts see the weakening of the Chinese economy as a result of the high level of debt on the one hand, and the trade dispute with the USA, which has been going on for 15 months now, on the other. Although there has recently been a rapprochement, the effects are still visible if one adds the recently published declining export figures. In September, Chinese exports fell by 3.2 percent year-on-year. China’s exports to the USA even dropped by 21.9 percent in September.

Despite all this, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is still cautiously optimistic about China’s economic growth outlook. For instance, the latest data on production and infrastructure investments were “favorable for growth.