GDP growth options narrowing

A rebound in fourth quarter will help, as govt is likely to deepen reform and restructuring and resort to mini-stimulus approach

With the lowest quarterly GDP growth in five years, a reeling real estate sector, weak manufacturing activity and falling fixed-assets growth - the Chinese economy is facing its biggest challenge since it was hit hard by the global financial crisis.

Worse, policymakers can no longer afford to launch aggressive stimulus programs to bail out the economy, as they did five years ago. They seem to have no way out but to accelerate reform and restructuring, while resorting to targeted stimulus measures of limited scale as they attempt to gradually lead the economy out of the woods.