China’s GDP growth beats forecasts but at weakest level since 2009

China’s economy expanded quicker than economists forecast in the third quarter as the services sector propped up the world’s second-largest economy, suggesting monetary and fiscal stimulus is keeping Premier Li Keqiang’s 2015 expansion target within reach.

Gross domestic product rose 6.9 per cent in the three months through September from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said, beating economists’ estimates for 6.8 per cent. Still, that was the slowest quarterly expansion ...