October 25, 2022: -On Monday, China reported that the third-quarter gross domestic product increased by 3.9% from a year ago, beating expectations.

The data was originally released on October 18 but was delayed until October 17 without explanation. China’s Communist Party held its 20th National Congress from October 16 to October 22.

Analysts polled by Reuters before October 18 had anticipated China to report GDP growth of 3.4% for the third quarter.

The officially released 3.9% year-on-year growth for the third quarter marked a pickup from 0.4% in the second quarter, getting a year-to-date transition to 3%.

That’s still well below the official target of around 5.5%.

Covid controls on business activity, especially in the year’s second quarter, have weighed on growth and prompted many investment banks to slash their full-year forecasts to around 3%.

The latest congress did not signal whether the Covid policy would soon end or continue.

China also removed trade data for September on Monday after an unexplained silence on the figures, which had been expected on October 14.

Exports, a powerful driver of China’s growth, beat expectations with an increase of 5.7% in U.S.-dollar terms in September. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 4.1% increase.

However, imports in U.S.-dollar terms only increased by 0.3% in September from a year ago, missing Reuters’ prediction of 1% growth.