COMBINED FROM WIRE REPORTS
October 18, 2022 at 08:30 JST
China's President Xi Jinping, center, sits after giving a speech during the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing on Oct. 16. (AP Photo)
China on Monday abruptly delayed the release of third-quarter GDP and September activity data originally scheduled for publication at 10:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, according to an updated calendar on the statistics bureau's website.
No specific reason was given. The GDP report was likely to conflict with the confident tone of the party congress by showing the economy grew by as little as 3% in the latest quarter, barely half the official 5.5% target.
The economy is struggling under the weight of severe COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Xi's government, a sharp real estate slowdown and the fallout from the war in Ukraine.
A woman who answered the phone in the press office of the National Bureau of Statistics said only that the postponement was due to “work arrangements.”
The GDP data had been eagerly awaited by investors, after an unexpected delay of trade figures due to be released on Friday.
China's economy likely grew 3.4% in July-September from a year earlier, gaining pace from the 0.4% growth in the second quarter, but the expected 2022 growth could still be one of the weakest in almost half of a century, a Reuters poll suggested.
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