Mining Expert Calls #3 China Economics: Policy-driven pick up in investment expected from Sept

We hosted UBS's Yu Song in Part #3 of our China Expert Call series. UBS Chief China Economist Yu Song notes China's growth was materially weaker than expected in 2Q at 4.3% due to policy tightening after 1Q GDP surprised to the upside; the government signalled its intention to loosen policy at the July Politburo meeting (to ensure it can achieve the 4.5-5.0% GDP growth target for 2026) but measures have been slow to implement, with data only starting to pick up in September. Yu expects sequential improvement in GDP in September/4Q, with local governments encouraged to spend current budgets and accelerate projects in the 15th Five-Year Plan. Commodity demand indicators for China have also been soft in April-July, with broad-based weakness across industrial production, investment and property;