China’s gross domestic product rose 3.9 per cent year on year in the third quarter, far below its full-year target and laying bare the scale of the economic challenges facing the country.
The release of the data on Monday, delayed from last Tuesday, comes after China’s president Xi Jinping extended his rule for an unprecedented third term and tightened his grip on political power at the Communist party’s 20th congress last week.
While the government provided no explanation for the delay in releasing the data, the move was widely seen as an attempt to avoid distracting from the congress, which occurs once every five years and overhauls the upper echelons of the Communist Party.