China GDP grows at steady clip in Q3, but economists anticipate slowdown

China's economy continued expanding at a steady clip last quarter, although some economists believed tighter economic policy was set to weigh on the pace of expansion.

Asia's largest economy saw its gross domestic product grow by 6.8% year-on-year during the third quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, as expected by economists.

Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics aired doubts about the accuracy of the government data but conceded that the consultancy's own China Activity Proxy had pointed to a similar picture, with activity accelerating to a 6.% clip year-on-year over the three months to September, up from 6.0% over the prior three months.

Other data released on Thursday came in mostly ahead of forecasts.

Urban fixed asset investment slowed to a 7.8% pace year-to-date in September (consensus: 7.7%), but industrial production and retail sales reportedly grew slightly more quickly than expected last month, rising by 6.6% (consensus: 6.5%) and 10.3% (consensus: 10.2%), respectively.

Nonetheless, Evans-Pritchard added: "Both the official figures and our own China Activity Proxy suggest that growth held up well last quarter, and so did the monthly activity data in September. However, a less supportive fiscal policy stance and slower credit growth should result in a slowdown over the coming months."