China's economy has slowed down, with its growth rate dropping to 4.8% in the three months ending September, a decline from the same period last year and the weakest pace in over a year.
The slowdown is largely due to ongoing troubles in the country's real estate sector, where property investment fell 13.9% in the period, indicating a sharp downturn marked by falling home prices, shrinking sales, and instances of developers abandoning their projects. The housing market accounts for around a third of China's economy and has been a major source of income for local governments.
Despite this, China's industrial output rose by 6.5% year-on-year in the same period, with its technology sector and business services sectors showing strong resilience and vitality against pressure. The country's service sector also grew, with IT support, consultancies, and transport and logistics companies performing well.
However, China's property troubles have been exacerbated by Beijing's decision to impose sweeping controls on its exports of rare earths - essential minerals for the global production of electronics - a move that has flared up trade tensions with the US. The US has responded by threatening an additional 100% tariffs on imports from China, which could further stifle economic growth.
China's National Bureau of Statistics attributed the slowdown to momentum in its technology sector and business services as key drivers of growth. However, senior economist Sheana Yue at Oxford Economics said it was unlikely that China's economic growth this year would exceed 4.8% without further government support, which could come with the new Five-Year Plan laying out Beijing's economic goals.
In the long run, housing "is still the major drag on China's economic growth" even as it faces uncertainty from Washington's tariffs and other trade barriers, according to economics lecturer Laura Wu from Nanyang Technological University.
The slowdown is largely due to ongoing troubles in the country's real estate sector, where property investment fell 13.9% in the period, indicating a sharp downturn marked by falling home prices, shrinking sales, and instances of developers abandoning their projects. The housing market accounts for around a third of China's economy and has been a major source of income for local governments.
Despite this, China's industrial output rose by 6.5% year-on-year in the same period, with its technology sector and business services sectors showing strong resilience and vitality against pressure. The country's service sector also grew, with IT support, consultancies, and transport and logistics companies performing well.
However, China's property troubles have been exacerbated by Beijing's decision to impose sweeping controls on its exports of rare earths - essential minerals for the global production of electronics - a move that has flared up trade tensions with the US. The US has responded by threatening an additional 100% tariffs on imports from China, which could further stifle economic growth.
China's National Bureau of Statistics attributed the slowdown to momentum in its technology sector and business services as key drivers of growth. However, senior economist Sheana Yue at Oxford Economics said it was unlikely that China's economic growth this year would exceed 4.8% without further government support, which could come with the new Five-Year Plan laying out Beijing's economic goals.
In the long run, housing "is still the major drag on China's economic growth" even as it faces uncertainty from Washington's tariffs and other trade barriers, according to economics lecturer Laura Wu from Nanyang Technological University.
. The China slowdown is just a ripple effect of the US-China trade tensions, but it's still scary for parents who are trying to plan their kids' financial future. Rare earths might seem like some fancy tech stuff, but they're basically what make our phones and laptops work 
. And if there's a shortage, it could get really expensive for everyone - including us 
. Let's hope the Chinese government can come up with a plan to support their economy without hurting other countries 
.
I'm not surprised about China's slowdown, its economy has been a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. The property sector is already super vulnerable and now Beijing's moves are making it worse... 
Still, I guess it's good that the tech sector is doing alright? 
That's what keeps me going, you know? But at the same time, those trade tensions with the US are a huge concern. What if they escalate further? 
especially with the real estate sector being so big part of their economy, it's like, a domino effect 
one bad news makes all others follow. anyway, I hope china can find a way to get outta this mess without too much drama 
is it just the real estate sector or are there other issues too? 
especially if it stifles economic growth more. do china's leaders have any other tricks up their sleeve to boost the economy? 
and what does this mean for the rest of us, like consumers and businesses? 
, huh? 4.8% growth rate is kinda low considering last year was way better 
developers abandoning projects isn't a good sign either 
. But, export control on rare earths? That's just gonna stifle economic growth even more 
, and China's economy might not see better growth without some government support 
But now it looks like things are getting real for once, with prices falling and developers abandoning projects 
.
, but I'm not sure if that's the best idea. Trade tensions with the US will only make things worse 
. Maybe they should focus on building up other sectors like tech and business services? 
.
what's going on with that? 
is china still gonna be a big player on the global stage? 
And now the US is throwing more tariffs around... that's just going to stifle growth even further 
. But at the same time, their tech sector is still killing it! 
Industrial output rose 6.5% last quarter, that's crazy! 
And China's business services sectors are performing well too, which is awesome 
. The US is already getting aggro about tariffs, and it's hard to predict what'll happen next 
.
However, if we're being honest with ourselves, the housing market has been a major concern for some time now... even if it does account for only a third of the economy, its impact on local governments' coffers can't be overstated. 
we were thinking that maybe the problem isn't just the economy but also like the housing market is super saturated and nobody wants to buy 
anyway back to the news, i'm kinda worried about china's economic growth this year...like 4.8% is a pretty big drop and if the government doesn't step in with some support it could get really bad 
so that's gotta impact us somehow
. Like, maybe China isn't the biggest player it used to be, or maybe other countries are finally catching up? It's not like we haven't seen economic ups and downs before - this feels kinda like a normal part of the cycle, you know? 