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China third-quarter GDP grows 6.8 percent year-on-year, meets expectations

FILE PHOTO: A night view of the old houses surrounded by new apartment buildings at Guangfuli neighbourhood in Shanghai, China, April 10, 2016. I  REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A night view of the old houses surrounded by new apartment buildings at Guangfuli neighbourhood in Shanghai, China, April 10, 2016. I REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

Thomson Reuters

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy grew 6.8 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday, in-line with expectations and below the previous quarter's growth as fixed asset investment growth slowed.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected gross domestic product to expand 6.8 percent in the July-September quarter from 6.9 percent growth in the April-June quarter.

While policymakers' efforts to curb property market speculation and cut debt are expected to have hit growth in some parts of the world's second largest economy, activity has been supported by better-than-expected expansion in trade and bank lending.

Beijing is aiming for growth of around 6.5 percent in 2017, slightly lower than last year's 6.7 percent, which was the weakest pace in 26 years.

GDP in the third quarter grew 1.7 percent quarter-on-quarter, compared with growth of 1.8 percent in April-June, which was revised up from initially reported 1.7 percent growth, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Analysts had expected third-quarter GDP would grow 1.7 percent on a quarterly basis.

The statistics bureau also revised quarter-on-quarter growth for the first quarter to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Writing by Elias Glenn; Editing by Sam Holmes)

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