MNI BRIEF: China Q3 GDP Rebounds More Than Expected; +3.9% Y/Y

China's economy grew 3.9% y/y in Q3, rebounding from 0.4% in Q2 and beating the median forecast of 3.3%, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. China's GDP in the first three quarters grew at a 3.0% y/y rate.

Industrial production rose 6.3% y/y in September from August's 4.2%, beating the consensus forecast for a 4.8% rise. But retail sales halved to 2.5% in September from August's 5.4% y/y, missing the forecast 3.2% gain. The surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.5% in September, up 0.2 percentage point from August.

Fixed-asset investment edged up slightly to 5.9% y/y in Q3 compared to the 5.8% gain in the Jan-Aug period. This underperformed the median forecast for a 6.0% rise. Property investment fell 8.0% y/y to hit the lowest level since February 2020, sliding further from the previous 7.4% fall. Both infrastructure investment and manufacturing investment accelerated by 0.3 pp and 0.1 pp, respectively, to 8.6% and 10.1%.