BEIJING (Oct 19): China's economic growth eased to 6.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, beating expectations but still the slowest since the global financial crisis, putting pressure on policymakers to roll out more support measures as fears of a sharper slowdown spook investors.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted gross domestic product (GDP) for the world's second-largest economy would come in at 6.8 percent, compared with 7 percent in the prior quarter.

Quarter-on-quarter growth was 1.8 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said at a news conference on Monday.

The market had expected GDP growth to come in at 1.7 percent on a quarterly basis, compared to a revised reading of 1.8 percent the prior quarter.

Fixed-asset investment growth eased to 10.3 percent year-on-year in the Jan-September period, missing market expectations.

Analysts polled by Reuters predicted investment growth would come in at 10.8 percent, compared with 10.9 percent posted the prior month.

Industrial output growth also cooled more than expected to 5.7 percent, disappointing analysts who expected it to rise 6 percent on an annual basis after a rise of 6.1 percent the prior month.

Retail sales quickened to 10.9 percent.

Analysts forecast they would rise 10.8 percent on an annual basis after a rise of 10.8 percent the prior month.