Hanoi:China's economy showed significant improvement in the third quarter of 2026, with new growth drivers gaining momentum, as indicated by official high-frequency data on consumption, trade, and investment.

According to Qatar News Agency, consumer activity continued its recovery with offline consumption payments rising by 2.6% year-on-year in the third quarter. This marks an acceleration of 0.7 percentage points compared to the second quarter. In September alone, offline consumption payments increased by 3.1% from the previous year, up by 0.5 percentage points from August, continuing a three-month growth streak.

The data also revealed a substantial increase in the weight carried by cargo ships at major Chinese ports, with departures rising by 43.1% and arrivals by 0.3% year-on-year in the third quarter. On the investment front, the issuance of new special-purpose bonds experienced a 50.2% year-on-year rise in September, with a sharp acceleration of 43.6 percentage points compared to August.

Contracts for projects associated with new infrastructure, including computing power, data, and networks, increased by 34.2% year-on-year in the third quarter and 50.4% in September. Additionally, capital investment in sectors like artificial intelligence and humanoid robots surged by 184.1% year-on-year in the third quarter and 198.7% in September.

China has set a growth target of 4.5-5% for 2026 and aims to achieve even better results. In the first half of the year, the GDP grew by 4.7% year-on-year. Indicating a strong economic trend, China's manufacturing activity returned to expansion in September, with a purchasing managers' index of 50.1, while the business activity index for the non-manufacturing sector reached 50.2.