Hanoi:China's economy showed signs of continued improvement in the third quarter of 2026, driven by growth in consumption and investment. Official data indicated that consumer activity rebounded, with offline consumption payments rising by 2.6% year-on-year, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter.
According to Qatar News Agency, In September, offline consumption payments saw a further rise of 3.1% compared to the same month last year, marking the third consecutive month of growth. Additionally, cargo ship weights at major Chinese ports increased by 43.1% for departures and 0.3% for arrivals year-on-year in the third quarter.
Investment also showed a positive trend, with the issuance of new special-purpose bonds increasing by 50.2% year-on-year in September, a substantial acceleration from August. Contracts for new infrastructure projects related to computing power, data, and networks grew by 34.2% year-on-year in the third quarter and 50.4% in September.
Notably, capital investment in advanced sectors such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robots surged by 184.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, with an even more significant increase of 198.7% in September. China targets an annual growth rate of 4.5-5% for 2026, with a GDP increase of 4.7% in the first half of the year.
Manufacturing also showed signs of recovery, with China's purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector reaching 50.1 in September, and the non-manufacturing business activity index standing at 50.2, indicating a return to expansion.