China’s economy keeps expanding with the nation’s GDP posting a hefty third quarter gain of 7.8% over the previous year, according to data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.
The increase in GDP reflected a speeding up of China’s growth, a fast pace that some Chinese officials say is unsustainable.
As the world’s second largest economy after the US, Chinese economic success is also linked to the global economy.
But China’s boom years may soon be over, according to some forecasts.
Meanwhile, however, China’s Q3 numbers were up, as were the 7.7% increase over the previous year for the first quarter, and the 7.5% increase for the second quarter.
If the growth rate quarter-to-quarter of 2.2% continues, China is on track to post a healthy 9.1% annualized growth rate.
Behind China’s enviable growth are a combination of factors including government spending on urban infrastructure, the bottom line results of commercial loans made early in 2013, and a modest overall increase in foreign demand for Chinese products.
Although foreign exports account in part for China’s economic boom, government data cited in a recent news conference showed a small deceleration of economic growth for September despite the positive numbers for the third quarter.
The slowdown could be a harbinger of new obstacles to China’s seemingly miraculous economic growth since 1998.
In every year since 1998, China has exceeded its economic growth goals.
But China’s economy may soon be changing as the government plans to implement reforms making growth more reliant on domestic consumption, rather than relying too heavily on export revenues and building and improving infrastructure.