China's economy grew 9.1 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2009, adding to concern that the global recovery is fading as Europe's debt crisis deepens.
The gain was less than the median estimate of 9.3 per cent in a Bloomberg News surveyof 22 economists and follows a 9.5 per cent increase in the previous three months. The statistics bureau released the data yesterday.
China's economy grew 2.3 per cent in the third quarter from the previous three months, seasonally adjusted, the statistics bureau said. That compared with a revised 2.4 per cent gain for the second quarter.
Asian policymakers faced a "delicate balancing act" with inflation remaining elevated while Europe's crisis threatened growth, the International Monetary Fund said last week.
China has raised interest rates five times over the past year, curbed lending and imposed limits on home purchases to rein in property and consumer prices. Home prices gained in fewer than half of the 70 Chinese cities monitored by the Government in September from the previous month as sales eased following harsher policies to curb the risks of asset bubbles, the bureau data showed.
A property slump and slowing export growth are among the biggest risks to China's growth, according to economists at UBS AG, Nomura Holdings and Societe Generale.
Home transactions fell an average 32 per cent in 20 major cities over the week-long public holiday earlier this month, said Soufun Holdings. Central bank data show new property loans fell 43 per cent in the first half of the year to 791 billion yuan.
A drop in land prices in cities including Beijing and Guangzhou and falling land sales presaged a slowdown in property investment, said Nomura economist Zhang Zhiwei.
