China’s economy grew stronger than expected in the third quarter, rebounding modestly from the fallout from the spring’s harsh coronavirus lockdown, but the economy remains challenged as top leader Xi Jinping wins another five-year term.
China’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose 3.9 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said on Monday. The data was unexpectedly delayed during the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics was scheduled to release the closely-watched GDP data on October 18, but abruptly announced a delay in the release of the data a day before its scheduled release. The Bureau of Statistics told The Wall Street Journal that the delay in releasing the data was due to “work arrangements,” without specifying. China has not explained the reason for the delay, but economists have widely speculated that it is to keep the GDP data from distracting attention from the party congress, which is held every five years.
Economic performance improved in the third quarter compared to the 0.4% year-on-year increase in GDP in the second quarter. In the second quarter, major cities such as Shanghai are imposing epidemic lockdowns, resulting in business closures and millions of people being quarantined at home, with some lockdowns taking weeks or even months to end.
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