Briefs | Inflation eases, leaving room for stimulus

While economists agree growth fell below 7 percent in the July-September period, down from 7 percent in both the first and second quarter, the magnitude of the slowdown remains a source of debate. The highest forecast in the poll was 7.2% and the lowest was 6.4%.

The world’s second-largest economy is forecast to grow 6.8 percent this year, cooling from 7.3 percent in 2014 and the slowest pace in a quarter of a century, according to the median forecast of 62 analysts.

Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics, said last month that third-quarter economic growth will be largely stable as the impact from the stock market slump on the broader economy has been limited. But Industrial Bank chief economist Lu Zhengwei predicted the outlook would pick up later this year: “Investment will be better than the third quarter and the loose monetary policy will start to take effect”.

“Despite this weaker growth profile, services have been the strongest growing component of China’s economy for the past three years, as well as being the key driver of growth in the first half of 2015”, the report said.

The People’s Bank of China has cut interest rates five times since November and lowered the proportion of deposits banks have to set aside as reserves in an effort to cushion the economy’s slowdown.

Data on Wednesday showed consumer prices rose 1.6 per cent over a year earlier, driven by a 2.7 per cent rise in food costs.

A raft of monthly indicators will be released with the GDP data, and analysts will be looking for signs as to whether momentum is still fading or if the economy may be slowly stabilizing.

With global market sentiment already spooked by a surprise yuan devaluation and months of stock market volatility, Chinese policymakers are using every tool possible to reassure the world of the mainland’s economic health so the revisions seems unlikely in the near-term.

However, a sharper fall in imports left economists divided over whether China’s trade sector is showing signs of turning around.