China delays key economic data releases amid Communist party congress

theguardian.com:

China has said it will delay the release of economic growth figures, which had been due to be published as the country’s leadership gathers for a key meeting set to hand president Xi Jinping a historic third term in office.

The announcement came one day before analysts had expected Beijing to publish some of its weakest quarterly growth figures since 2020 with the economy hobbled by Covid-19 restrictions and a real estate crisis.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday the release of growth figures for the third quarter along with a host of other economic data would be “postponed”, without specifying a reason or giving a new timeline.

The delay comes as officials from China’s ruling Communist party meet in Beijing for their 20th Congress, which is set to rubber stamp president Xi Jinping’s bid to rule for another term.

Zhao Chenxin, senior official at the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters on Monday that “the economy rebounded significantly in the third quarter”.

“From a global perspective, China’s economic performance is still outstanding,” he said.

But many analysts expect the world’s second-largest economy to struggle to reach its growth target this year of about 5.5%, with the International Monetary Fund lowering its forecast for GDP expansion to 3.2%.

A panel of experts polled by AFP last week predicted an average of 3% growth in 2022 – a long way off the 8.1% seen last year.

That would be China’s weakest growth rate in four decades, excluding 2020 when the global economy was hammered by the emergence of the coronavirus.

The NBS said it would also postpone the release of monthly data on indicators including real estate and retail sales.

Last week, customs authorities delayed the release