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Trump brought knives, but China brought a bazooka

Stephen Bartholomeusz Senior business columnist October 21, 2025 — 12.01pm

China’s economy is slowing, but it’s holding up better than expected in the face of Donald Trump’s trade war.

Even as China’s “Fourth Plenum” gathering of the most senior members of the Communist Party got underway on Monday to rubber-stamp Xi Jinping’s next five-year economic plan, the latest economic data shows Asia’s biggest economy grew 4.8 per cent in the third quarter , compared to the same period last year.

While that represents a slowdown from the 5.2 per cent growth rate in the June quarter, it keeps the economy on track to meet Beijing’s “around 5 per cent” targeted growth for this year. It’s also a litt

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