Beijing: China's economy grew 4.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, fuelled by global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, which helped it offset weak domestic consumption and a deepening property market crisis.
It is a recovery of sorts for the world's second-largest economy as the growth fell to 4.3 per cent in the second quarter, its lowest since 2022, weighed down by stagnant domestic demand and higher energy costs linked to the Iran war, offsetting the robust export growth.
