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China has announced in the past week a series of measures aimed at boosting its economy ahead of a key Politburo meeting later this week focused on reviewing the first half performance of the world's second-largest economy.
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China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday reported third-quarter GDP growth of 4.6% year on year, slightly exceeding the 4.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters.
That's less than the second-quarter growth of 4.7% year on year. On a quarterly basis, the third quarter saw 0.9% expansion, compared to 0.7% in the second quarter.
"The national economy showed positive signs of growth in September," Sheng Laiyun, the bureau's deputy commissioner, said at the press conference, according to CNBC's translation of the Chinese.
Other data also released on Friday, such as retail sales and industrial production, had also beat expectations, a hopeful sign for the world's second largest economy.
Beijing has faced growing public scrutiny over its ability to meet its own annual growth target of "around 5%."
"Since real GDP expanded by 4.8% in the first three quarters of the year, the full year GDP growth target of around 5% is now within reach with extra stimulus in Q4," said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit.
"Despite the multitude of challenges, China's economy is not incurable as some would suggest. There's reason to be more optimistic about growth in the coming years, given how the government is committed to shoring up the economy.
Amid low consumer sentiment and a flagging property sector, the Chinese government has intensified stimulus measures in recent weeks in an effort to boost its lackluster economy.
This is a developing story. Please check back later for updates.
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