 China's economy has hit its slowest pace of growth in a year in the third quarter, hurt by people power shortages, supply chain bottlenecks and major wobbles in the property market, and raising pressure on policymakers to do more to prop up the faltering recovery. The National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Fu Linzhu told the news conference in Beijing that the economy has the ability and conditions to complete the expected goals and tasks for economic and social development throughout the year. Data release on Monday showed gross domestic product GDP grew 4.9% in July-September from a year earlier, the weakest clip since the third quarter of 2020 and missing forecasts. Despite the drop in growth, the government says it is confident that targets will be met. The world's second largest economy is facing several major challenges, including the China Evergrande Group debt crisis, ongoing supply chain delays and a critical electricity crunch, which sent factory outputs to its weakest since early 2020 when heavy COVID-19 curbs were in place.