China's economy stumbles in third quarter

China's economy has hit its slowest pace of growth in a year, pummeled by power shortages, supply chain bottlenecks and a property market slowdown in the third quarter.

Data released on Monday showed GDP grew just 4.9% in the third quarter, missing analyst forecasts.

It's putting pressure on policymakers to prop up the world's second-largest economy.

China's economy staged an impressive rebound from last year's health crisis-induced slump thanks to effective containment and overseas demand for its manufactured goods.

But its rapid recovery has since lost steam.

Global worries about a possible spillover of credit risk from China's property sector into the wider economy have intensified as major developer China Evergrande wrestles with more than $300 billion of debt.

Analysts and policy sources say Chinese leaders are likely to maintain tough curbs on the sector even as the economy slows out of fear that a persistent property bubble could undermine the country's long-term ascent.

Meanwhile, industrial output has slowed to a crawl thanks to power rationing triggered by coal shortages, environmental curbs on heavy polluters like steel plants, and massive floods over the summer.