China’s once-world-beating economy sputtered further in the third quarter, decelerating to its slowest pace since the global financial crisis and adding to concerns about the world economic outlook . The 6.9% growth rate for the third quarter, announced on Monday, clouds China’s prospects for reaching the official targeted growth rate of about 7% for the year. It also renews pressure on Beijing to enact more pro-growth measures. “Overall it’s pretty disappointing,” said Société Générale SCGLY 0.94 % CIB economist Klaus Baader, who expects fourth-quarter growth of 6.8%. “Investment continued to slow pretty sharply despite efforts by the government to support the economy. It doesn’t seem to be sufficient.” The better-than-expected result—a Wall Street Journal survey of 13 economists forecast a median 6.8% gain—is likely to renew debate over the accuracy of China’s growth statistics. Other economic data released on Monday showed disappointing results in investment and industrial production. Earlier […]