Chinese third quarter growth hits 9-year low

China’s economy grew at its slowest pace for nine years in the third quarter, as a campaign to tackle mounting debt, and trade frictions with the US take their toll. The world’s second largest economy expanded 6.5 per cent on-year in July-September, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed, marking the worst performance since the start of 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis.

It is also well down from the 6.8pc and 6.7pc in the previous two quarters but in line with Beijing’s target for the year. China is in the midst of a increasingly bitter trade row with the United States with both sides exchanging tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods. While exports to the US have held up so far, the row has sapped confidence.

“China-US trade frictions have affected the market, but frankly speaking, the psychological impact is greater than the actual impact and China and the US are currently in contact,” said Liu He, China’s top economic policy maker in interview yesterday with official news agency Xinhua intended to reassure markets. Liu trumpeted a raft of new policies intended to boost the stock market and reaffirmed the importance of China’s private sector, which has suffered from a push to strengthen stateowned enterprises.