NewzHONG KONG (AP) — China on Monday said its economy grew 4.5% for the July-September quarter from a year ago fueled by robust exports, moving closer to meeting its official annual growth target as the year nears its end and at a time when its trading partners felt an increased urgency in balancing their trade deficits with the country.The better-than-expected official data accelerated from the 4.3% year-on-year growth recorded in the April-June quarter, which was the slowest expansion in more than three years.For the whole year, Chinese leaders have set a growth target of 4.5%-5%, down from last year’s 5% expansion. Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund trimmed its forecast for China’s 2026 economic growth to 4.5%, just meeting the lower end of Beijing’s goal.Strong exports lift economic growth, but domestic sluggishness remainsThe headline official growth figure is becoming “an increasingly poor indicator of how the broader economy is performing,” said Max Zenglein, Asia Pacific senior economist at The Conference Board.That’s because it masks “widening disparities across industries, regions, and households,” Zenglein said. Beijing faces difficult trade-offs and managing domestic imbalances may prove more challenging than dealing with external pressures, he said.China’s domestic demand has weakened, weighed on by a yearslong downturn in its property market that has squeezed household wealth and driven up savings.Still, with strong exports being one of the few bright spots, China is on track to surpass last year’s record $1.2 trillion trade surplus globally, after logging a 36% growth in exports last month and already a $938 billion surplus between January and September.Elevated U.S.
tariffs have hit some U.S.-China bilateral trade and forced China to look elsewhere, including Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe. High-tech exports such as semiconductors, and autos, including hybrid and electric vehicles, are among areas driving its export growth this year.As China pursues self-sufficiency to help shield itself from Western export controls and trade uncertainties, it has built up massive domestic manufacturing capacities across industries such as solar and EVs which are also heavily subsidized by the government. But output was scaled up rapidly at a time of weakened domestic consumption, so many of these goods are shipped to overseas markets …
China's trade surplus widened in September as exports surged, putting it on track to exceed last year's record US$1.2 trillion and deepen trade tensions. (EPA Images pic)BEIJING: China's economic growth rebounded to 4.5% year-on-year in the third quarter, beating expectations and easing the pressure on policymakers for delivering more aggressive stimulus measures to meet the annual target.The third-quarter gross domestic product growth rate, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, beat the forecast for 4.4% growth in a Reuters poll, and improved from the more-than-three-year low of 4.3% in the April-to-June period.Beijing has leaned heavily on exports for growth this year, but that engine faces growing pressure as domestic demand remains weak and trade tensions with the European Union escalate.China's strategy of redirecting credit and resources from property towards high-tech industries has created a two-speed economy, where strong factory output and exports mask weak consumption and private investment.For January-September, the economy grew 4.6%, within the range of the government's annual growth target of 4.5%-5.0%.On a quarterly basis, the economy expanded 1.2% in the third quarter, surpassing expectation for a 1.1% rise and accelerating from 0.9% in April-June.China's trade surplus widened more than expected in September as exports surged, keeping the country on track to surpass last year's record surplus of US$1.2 trillion and likely intensifying trade tensions with major partners.A deal with the EU to rein in Chinese hybrid-vehicle shipments could weigh on the booming auto trade.Beijing has recently expanded support for home buyers, unveiled measures to steer cheaper credit into sectors including infrastructure and technology and allocated 550 billion yuan (US$82.28 billion) in unused government debt quotas to ease local governments' financial strain and expand infrastructure investment.Authorities also stepped up fiscal support, including expanding loan interest subsidies for small private firms and consumers and tapping an 800 billion yuan policy-based financing tool to spur infrastructure investment.Still, infrastructure investment shrank 4.2%.Fixed-asset investment declined 7.2% in the first nine months, dropping at the same pace as in January-to-August period.Retail sales grew 1.1% in September, improving from the 0.4% r…
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