China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Friday reported third-quarter GDP growth of 4.6% year on year, slightly exceeding the 4.5% expected by economists polled by Reuters.

That’s less than the second-quarter growth of 4.7% year on year. On a quarterly basis, the third quarter saw 0.9% expansion, compared with 0.7% in the second quarter.

“The national economy showed positive signs of growth in September,” Sheng Laiyun, the bureau’s deputy commissioner, said at the news conference,…