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[1/2] FILE PHOTO: Robotic arms assemble cars in the production line for Leapmotor's electric vehicles at a factory in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China, April 26, 2023. Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 7.6% in October, quickening from a 5.5% gain in September and hitting the fastest growth since May. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 7.0% due to the low base effect in 2022 when COVID curbs disrupted consumers and businesses. The PBOC has cut banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) twice this year to free up liquidity to aid the economic recovery. Fixed asset investment expanded 2.9% in the first 10 months from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.1% rise.

Persons: Xing Zhaopeng, Albee Zhang, Liangping Gao, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, National Bureau of Statistics, Analysts, ANZ, People's Bank of China, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: Jinhua, Zhejiang province, China, Rights BEIJING, quickening

ON TRACK FOR GOVT GDP TARGETThe recovery momentum suggests the government's full year 2023 growth target of around 5.0% is likely to be achieved. The key issue is what growth target the government will set and how much fiscal easing will take place." The statistics bureau said China would be able to hit the 2023 growth target if the fourth quarter growth tops 4.4%. Moody's Analytics has also raised its 2023 growth projection to 5% from 4.9%. The faltering property sector has hit some of the biggest developers in the country.

Persons: Matt Simpson, Zhiwei Zhang, Tingshu Wang, Frederic Neumann, Louise Loo, Ellen Zhang, Joe Cash, Kevin Yao, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: Gross, National Bureau, Statistics, Reuters, Index, New, REUTERS, Nomura, JPMorgan, Analysts, Country Garden Holdings, HK, Global Research, HSBC, Oxford Economics, Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Brisbane, U.S, Beijing, China, New Zealand, Asia

Top leaders pledged to "intensify macroeconomic policy adjustments, focus on expanding domestic demand, boosting confidence and preventing risks, and continuously promote the improvement of economic operations," Xinhua said. China will implement its macro adjustments in a precise and forceful manner and strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments, as the government sticks with a prudent monetary policy and pro-active fiscal policy, the Politburo was quoted as saying. China will actively expand domestic demand, boosting residents' incomes to unleash the fundamental role of consumption in driving economic growth, while speeding up local special bond issuance to spur investment. Amid the mounting local debt repayment burden, China will effectively resolve local government debt risks and formulate a basket of plans to resolve local debt issues, Xinhua said. China last week also released guidelines to improve the private sector and vowed to make it "bigger, better and stronger."

Persons: Xi, Ellen Zhang, Kevin Yao, Joe Cash, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: Communist Party, Xinhua, Chinese Communist Party, Thomson Locations: China, BEIJING, Xinhua, Beijing

[1/5] A worker sweeps a street in the Central Business District on a rainy day in Beijing, China, July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, July 18 (Reuters) - China is entering an era of much slower economic growth, raising a daunting prospect: it may never get rich. He expects growth to slow to 3%, which "will feel like an economic recession" when youth unemployment is already above 20%. The April-June data puts 2023 growth on track for roughly 5%, with slower rates thereafter. But China's annual growth averaged around 7% last decade, and more than 10% in the 2000s.

Persons: Thomas Peter BEIJING, Desmond Lachman, year's, Wang Jun, Zheng Shanjie, Zheng, Richard Koo, Juan Orts, Xi Jinping's, Zhao, Cai Fang, Zhu Ning, Koo, Liangping Gao, Ellen Zhang, Ziyi Tang, Kevin Yao, Joe Cash, Marius Zaharia, David Crawshaw Organizations: Central Business District, REUTERS, American Enterprise Institute, Reuters, Communist, Huatai Asset Management, Reform Commission, Overseas, Nomura Research Institute, Fathom Consulting, Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Japan, United States, Young, Africa, Latin, U.S, Central

Retail sales - a key gauge of consumer confidence - rose 12.7%, missing forecasts of 13.6% growth and slowing from April's 18.4%. Data ranging from factory surveys and trade to loan growth and home sales have shown signs of weakness for the world's second-biggest economy. China's stock markets rose after the rates cut, with the benchmark CSI 300 gaining 0.6% in early trade, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.2%. The sector is expected to grapple with "persistent weakness" for years, dragging on economic growth, Goldman Sachs analysts said this week. The country's biggest banks recently cut their deposit rates to ease pressure on profit margins and encourage savers to spend more.

Persons: China's, Zhiwei Zhang, Bruce Pang, Jones Lang LaSalle, Pang, Hong, Julian Evans, Pritchard, Yi, Goldman Sachs, Albee Zhang, Sam Holmes Organizations: National Bureau of Statistics, Jones, CSI, Capital Economics, Investment, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Beijing, China, outflows

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks, except those that have implemented a 5% reserve ratio, by 25 basis points from March 27. "In the first two months of this year, China's main economic indicators showed a positive trend, but the overall recovery foundation is not yet solid." The central bank has yet to give an estimate of how much long-term liquidity will be released following the cut, which will allow banks to lend out more funds. The weighted average RRR for financial institutions stood at around 7.6% after the cut, the central bank said. China's economic activity picked up in the first two months of 2023 as consumption and infrastructure investment drove a recovery from COVID-19 disruptions.

Chinese leaders have pledged to step up support for the world's second-largest economy, which is gradually rebounding from a pandemic-induced slump after virus curbs were abruptly lifted in December. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks, except those that have implemented a 5% reserve ratio, by 25 basis points (bps), effective March 27. The move, which came earlier than financial markets had anticipated, comes after data showed a gradual but uneven recovery in the world's second-largest economy in the first months, and stronger-than-expected credit expansion in February. The central bank has promised to make its policy "precise and forceful" this year to support the economy, keeping liquidity reasonably ample and lowering funding costs for businesses. The weighted average RRR for financial institutions stood at around 7.6% after the cut, the central bank said.

Reuters GraphicsReuters GraphicsIn addition, Loo said a speedy recovery is also hampered by shifts in household liquidity positions over the course of the pandemic. "Unlike the outright cash payoff schemes seen in Hong Kong and Singapore that go some way in supporting household spending, China's COVID-relief programmes have instead focused predominantly on supporting businesses affected by lockdowns," she said. An official factory activity survey showed a sub-index of new export orders has remained in contraction territory for 20 consecutive months. But a recovery in the country's embattled property market could take much longer. Graphics by Kripa Jayaram, Riddhima Talwani and Sumanta Sen; Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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