Beijing/Hong Kong: China’s robust expansion is boosting a global economy that’s already racking up its best performance in a decade.

China on Thursday announced that the world’s second-biggest economy expanded by 6.8 per cent in the third quarter, following on from weekend musings from central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan of a 7 per cent pace for the second half. And in a sign the consensus view of a sharp slowdown next year is fading, Goldman Sachs economists raised their forecast for 2018’s expansion to 6.5 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund last week upgraded its growth outlook for the US, the euro area, Japan and China and said the global economy’s performing at its best pace in a decade. Evidence of the upswing was on display in Asia Thursday: South Korea’s central bank lifted its economic growth estimate for 2017, Japanese exports grew by double digits for a third straight month in September and Australian unemployment unexpectedly dropped.

“China’s third quarter economic data are another reflection of a global Goldilocks economy in 2017,” said William Adams, senior international economist at PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh who previously worked for the Conference Board in Beijing. “This virtuous cycle literally touches all corners of the world, from China, to Canada and Australia.”

The IMF projected the global economy will grow 3.6 per cent this year and 3.7 per cent next, in both cases an increase of 0.1 percentage point from its previous estimate, with Asia contributing 63.3 per cent of the expansion.

The revival of import demand in China has been a source of strength across Asia and there’s been a strong revival of Asian exports to the US and Europe, making the global upswing “a highly synchronised affair,” said Klaus Baader, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Societe Generale SA.

China boost

Zhou said the driving force behind China’s second-half acceleration would mainly be household consumption. That was reflected in data released Thursday with retail sales accelerating to 10.3 per cent in September from a year earlier. Consumption, which in Chinese statistics includes some government spending, contributed 64.5 per cent of growth in the first three quarters of 2017, 2.8 percentage point higher than the same period of 2016.

“The boost China is providing to the global economy is changing in nature,” said Baader. “It is likely to be less skewed toward commodity-producing countries in future, and more towards countries that provide services to Chinese households, in particular tourism services.”

China’s increasing impact on the world, as well as it grandiose ambitions, were highlighted by President Xi Jinping on Wednesday, when he addressed Communist Party leaders gathering in Beijing this week to map policy for the next five years. He said China is contributing about 30 per cent of global growth and outlined a three-decade road map to toward great power status, saying by 2050 the country would be a global leader in innovation, influence and military might.

China’s latest data all but guarantees it will contribute around 35 per cent of world growth this year, says James Laurenceson, deputy director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney.

While China’s growth jolt for the world seems secure this year, headwinds loom. The world needs to push through reforms, defuse political tensions and overcome disruptions from the impact of technology and other changes, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said last week. Risks include volatile capital markets and tighter financial conditions with spillover consequences around the world, she said.

While central bank governor Zhou anticipates a possible 7 per cent expansion in the second half of 2017, he also warned about the build-up of leverage, saying corporate debt is too high and that there’s no clear fiscal mechanism to restrain local governments. The durability of China’s expansion will be tested as leaders press on with their plans to tackle swelling debt, cut excess capacity and clean up pollution.

Interest rate

China’s potential downside impact on the global economy was highlighted in 2015, when it roiled financial markets enough to nudge the Federal Reserve away from raising interest rates. The Fed said then that the US economy and inflation may be restrained by “recent global economic and financial developments,” and Fed Chair Janet Yellen later said the financial turmoil reflected investor concerns about risks to Chinese growth.

Still, for now China’s enduring economic growth is a welcome tailwind for Communist Party leaders gathering in Beijing. Xi told delegates that China is transitioning from a rapid growth model to one more focused on high-quality development.

“China is hugely important for the world economy,” said Rob Subbaraman, chief economist for Asia ex-Japan at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Singapore. “There is a lot at stake for the whole world for China to successful transition to a new growth model driven more by productivity, consumption, services and private enterprises.”