China’s Growth Rebounds as AI-Driven Exports Offset Weak Home Demand
?s export engine is helping keep growth on target even as consumers at home remain cautious. The world’s second-largest economy expanded 4.5% in the third
China’s export engine is helping keep growth on target even as consumers at home remain cautious. The world’s second-largest economy expanded 4.5% in the third quarter, with demand for high-tech goods helping lift exports, official data showed.
The result marks a recovery from a three-year low in the previous period, but remains below the 5% growth recorded in the first quarter. It also sits at the lower edge of Beijing’s annual target range of 4.5% to 5%, leaving policymakers room to respond to economic strains, analysts have said.
Exports carry more weight
China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the economy maintained steady development under pressure, with new growth drivers and an improving structure. The figures point to a widening role for technology-related exports as weak domestic spending weighs on the recovery.
Sales of high-tech goods increased 14.3%. Production of batteries and industrial robots also grew, though the available data did not specify the size of those increases. The artificial intelligence boom has helped lift overseas demand, cushioning the impact of subdued spending within China.
That cushion matters beyond China. As exports rise faster than imports, the country’s trade surplus is on track to exceed last year’s record of $1.2 trillion, according to the source material. A larger surplus can also sharpen trade tensions with international partners, particularly as uncertainty over AI investment adds to questions about how durable the export surge will be.
A recovery with risks
The latest growth figure offers Beijing some breathing space, but it does not erase the divide between stronger overseas sales and soft demand at home. The annual target’s lower boundary is within reach; sustaining momentum may prove harder if global trade conditions deteriorate or investment in AI loses steam.
For now, high-tech exports are doing much of the work. Policymakers will have to watch whether that momentum can hold while addressing the domestic weakness that exports have so far helped offset.
Source: bbc.com
