The upswing in the Chinese economy clearly lost momentum in the third quarter. As the Beijing statistics office announced, the world’s second largest economy grew by 4.9 percent in the third quarter compared to the previous year. After a record increase of 18.3 percent in the first and 7.9 percent in the second quarter, it is the weakest value so far this year. In the period from January to September, the total growth was 9.8 percent.
After having overcome the corona pandemic, China’s economy initially recovered strongly. Most recently, however, economists warned of a whole range of negative factors that could have a negative impact on the Chinese economy and thus also on the business of German companies on site. The energy shortage in the country, which has already forced industrial companies to cut back on their production in the past few weeks, was named as a risk.
European companies operating in China are also increasingly suffering from rationing and the consequent shutdowns of businesses. The problems are likely to worsen with the upcoming heating season in winter and will last “at least until March”, warned the chairman of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, Jörg Wuttke. “We’re in a marathon, not a sprint.” EU companies complained about “chaos”. They are often informed at short notice that the power will be switched off – for example the evening before or an hour before the start of the shift.
Analysts are also concerned about the crisis surrounding the heavily indebted Chinese real estate group Evergrande, which is weighing on the Chinese financial and real estate market. In addition, this year the government enforced stricter rules and bans in Internet companies and numerous other industries, which also worsened the mood in the economy.
Other economic data presented on Monday were mixed. Industrial production, a measure of activity in the manufacturing sector, increased by 3.1 percent in September year-on-year. In August, growth was still 5.3 percent. Retail sales rose 4.4 percent after increasing 2.5 percent year over year in August.