The growth issue at the centre of the Chinese Communist Party Plenum
Agenda dominated by the economy, in a meeting that opened with the third quarter GDP figure slowing to 4.8 per cent
On the 370 members of the Fourth Plenum of the Chinese Communist Party, in conclave from yesterday, Monday, until Thursday 23 October to examine the outlines of the next Five-Year Plan 2026-2030, came the very bad news of the GDP slowdown in the third quarter.
Official data show that the gross domestic product grew by 4.8% in the July-September period, a slowdown compared to the 5.2% in the second quarter, in line with analysts' expectations of a more moderate increase of just 4.8%. Consumption slowed down, "only" at +4.4%, industrial production (+6.5%) was mainly driven by technology, robotics and electric vehicles in the lead, while real estate fell (-13.9%), despite state aid.
The Fourth Plenum must recognise that China's economic growth is the problem and that it is no coincidence at all that the agenda for these four days is secret,
is almost entirely economic, in fact with a departure from tradition the topic of the Plan was brought forward from the Fifth to the Fourth Plenum of the 20th Party Congress.
In the last quarter, in line with expectations, the data also impacted trade tensions that hurt Chinese demand, despite the excellent 8.5% export performance in September.
