China posts 8.9% third-quarter GDP growth

China’s third-quarter stats issued Thursday showed very few surprises. The 8.9% growth recorded for the July-September period will no doubt give a boost to all the bulls who have been upbeat on the country’s ability to hit its full-year growth target of 8%, despite the laggardly start to the year. Concerns do remain, however, on growth being too dependent on stimulus spending and a too-loose monetary policy, as asset bubbles loom on the horizon. Summing up the general feeling of those more cautious players, Qin Xiao, China Merchants Bank chairman, said it is "urgent that China shifts from a loose monetary policy stance from a neutral one." We’ll see how that one goes. "Neutral" would certainly not be a word used to describe the reaction to the first issue of renminbi-denominated bonds outside the mainland. The RMB6 billion offering received RMB18 billion worth of subscriptions, far higher than subscription rates for bond issues typically seen on the mainland. The outlook for more issues was "very good," Vice Finance Minister Li Yong said recently. The outlook for Huang Guangyu’s future isn’t so rosy. The former chairman of Gome could be looking at a 10-year stretch for fiddling around with company shares. A formal charge is expected over the coming weeks.