FX.co ★ China Q3 GDP Growth Beats Estimates

China’s economy expanded by 4.5% year-on-year in Q3 2026, up from Q2’s three-year low of 4.3% and surpassing market expectations of 4.4%. The acceleration was driven by recent policy easing and resilient export performance, particularly in AI-related components, high-tech manufactured goods, and electric vehicles. Economic activity in September also strengthened, with both industrial output and retail sales recording their fastest growth in six months, partly boosted by the Golden Week holiday period. Over the first nine months of 2026, the economy grew 4.6% compared with the same period in 2025, keeping it within the government’s full-year growth target range of 4.5%–5.0%.