China ‘Mini’ Stimulus Likely as Debt Weighs on Beijing’s Options

For the past two years, Chinese officials unleashed major fiscal and monetary stimulus after disappointing data in the final quarters. This time around, Beijing has fewer options.

In a warning sign to the economy, industrial output and consumption both had their worst performance of 2025 last month, following on from a weak performance in July. Most worryingly, growth in fixed-asset investment decelerated in the first eight months to its lowest reading on record for that period outside the pandemic.