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China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced on October 19, 2026 that the country’s gross domestic product expanded 4.5 percent year on year in the third quarter, improving from 4.3 percent in the April-to-June period and exceeding the 4.4 percent median forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts. The statistics bureau reported that on a quarterly basis the economy advanced 1.2 percent, accelerating from 0.9 percent in the preceding quarter. For the first nine months of the year combined, growth reached 4.6 percent, keeping the expansion within the government’s full-year target range of 4.5 percent to 5.0 percent. The NBS placed total output for the January-to-September period at 107.11 trillion yuan, equivalent to roughly 15.94 trillion U.S. dollars.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, new growth drivers contributed more than 40 percent to economic expansion in the first three quarters, with value-added industrial output rising 5.3 percent overall. Equipment manufacturing grew 10.2 percent while high-tech manufacturing surged 14.3 percent, the bureau’s data showed. Production of industrial robots jumped 29.1 percent, lithium-ion batteries increased 39.5 percent and 3D printing equipment soared 62.5 percent during the period. The NBS described the economy as advancing against headwinds while pivoting toward innovation-driven, high-quality development.
NBS deputy head Mao Shengyong told a media conference that the first-three-quarters growth aligned with the annual target and delivered the largest absolute output increase for the period in five years. Mao noted that third-quarter GDP picked up 0.2 percentage points from the second quarter at a time when some international institutions projected slower expansion for other major economies. The official figures come as exports have surged on global demand for technology goods tied to artificial intelligence, a trend highlighted across reports from Reuters and The Guardian.
Industrial production expanded 5.5 percent in September, the quickest pace in six months and an acceleration from 5.2 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics figures. Retail sales rose a more modest 1.1 percent in the same month and 2.6 percent over the first nine months, underscoring softer domestic consumption that has persisted through much of 2026. The NBS reported that goods exports and imports climbed 18.8 percent in the first three quarters to 39.9 trillion yuan, with trade alongside Belt and Road partner countries advancing 17.1 percent.
Service sector value added grew 5.2 percent in the January-to-September window, the statistics bureau data indicated, led by gains in leasing and business services as well as information technology. The pickup in headline growth has reduced immediate pressure on policymakers to deploy additional aggressive stimulus measures, Reuters analysts observed. Duncan Wrigley of Pantheon Macroeconomics, cited by The Guardian, assessed that authorities would likely view the third-quarter outcome as evidence of successful stabilization efforts.
The National Bureau of Statistics statement emphasised ongoing shifts toward high-quality development even as challenges from a subdued property market and weaker consumer demand continue to weigh on parts of the economy. Preliminary estimates from the bureau placed the contribution of new quality productive forces at over 40 percent for the first nine months. The release arrives against a backdrop in which full-year growth is projected near the lower end of the official target, according to multiple economic assessments.
