China’s imports slid for the 11th straight month, adding to economists’ growing bearishness — now at a post global financial crisis low — as policymakers seek to arrest an economic slowdown. September’s 17.7 percent year-on-year drop in imports, in renminbi terms, further underlines the challenges of China’s long-standing bid to pivot the economy away from investment-led growth and cheap exports towards domestic consumption. Slower growth in China, which ripples around the globe via depressed demand for everything from commodities to luxury goods, has roiled global stock markets in recent months. Analysts expect gross domestic product figures due out next Monday to show real growth at 6.7 percent for the third quarter, lower than the official full-year target of “around 7 percent”, according to a Bloomberg survey of 25 economists. Official data showed real growth at 7 percent in both the first and second quarters this year. UBS China economist Harrison Hu is looking for growth of 6.6 percent given “continued property destocking, stumbling industrial activity, shrinking stock market turnover and weak exports”.