in recent months has highlighted weaker demand at home and abroad. Still, most analysts say the scope for aggressive stimulus is limited in an economy already saddled with piles of debt following previous easing cycles, which have sent housing prices sharply higher.

The outlook is unlikely to change for the better any time soon even as tensions in the protracted trade war between Beijing and Washington have eased somewhat. US President Donald Trump said last week the two sides had reached agreement on the first phase of a deal and suspended a tariff hike, but officials said much work still needed to be done.

A slide in China's exports accelerated in September while imports contracted for a fifth straight month.

The drags on demand, both domestic and global, have hit severalkey parts of the economy with weakness seen in freight shipments, factory power generation, employment and entertainment spending. In September, auto sales posted their 15th straight month of decline while factory gate prices fell at their fastest pace in three years.

The International Monetary Fund has warned the US-China trade war will cut 2019 global growth to its slowest pace since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, but said output would rebound if their dueling tariffs were removed.

Beijing has relied on a combination of fiscal stimulus and monetary easing to weather the current slowdown, including trillions of yuan in tax cuts and local government bonds to fund infrastructure projects and efforts to spur bank lending.

But the economy has been slow to respond with business confidence shaky and local governments facing increasing