The data was released just hours before state news agency Xinhua announced the start of a closely watched four-day meeting in Beijing with top Communist Party officials focused on long-term economic planning.
It also comes ahead of in-person discussions later this month between top Chinese and US trade officials -- as well as a potential meeting between presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Trump earlier this month threatened blistering 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods from November 1, in response to Beijing's sweeping export controls in the strategic rare earths sector.
Gross domestic product in the July-September quarter expanded 4.8 percent year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, down from 5.2 percent in the previous three months.
The figure was on par with an AFP forecast based on a survey of analysts.
It also represented the slowest growth since the same quarter last year, when GDP expanded 4.6 percent.
As trade pressure builds, experts say China must adjust to a growth model driven more by domestic household spending than exports and manufacturing.
Fixed-asset investment in the first three quarters saw a slight decline of 0.5 percent year-on-year, the data showed, largely because of a sharp contraction in real estate investment.
That decline is "rare and alarming", Zhiwei Zhang of Pinpoint Asset Management wrote in a note.
Zhang noted that recent stimulus measures "should help to mitigate the downward pressure on investment" in the fourth quarter.
"Nonetheless, the risk to GDP growth in Q4 is likely on the downside," he added.
- Consumer slump -
Domestic spending has lagged in recent years, having failed to fully recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a further sign of weakness, the NBS said retail sales growth slid to three percent year-on-year in September, in line with estimates in a Bloomberg survey, but down from August and the slowest rate since November.
"This slowdown reflects the waning impact of the consumer goods trade-in scheme, which had boosted sales of certain products earlier in the year," wrote Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics.
"China's growth is becoming increasingly dependent on exports, which are offsetting a slowdown in domestic demand," he wrote.
"This pattern of development is not sustainable," he added.
Alin, a 40-year-old administrative assistant at an insurance company, told AFP in Beijing on Monday that she felt "current consumer subsidies are not quite enough" to get the economy humming again.
"It's more of a global issue," she added, noting concerns including job security, real estate prices and education-related expenses.
Another challenge facing economic planners is a protracted debt crisis in China's vast real estate sector, long a key driver of activity.
New residential property prices fell year-on-year in September in 61 out of 70 cities surveyed, NBS data showed Monday, a sign of persisting homebuyer wariness.
In one bright spot, industrial production rose 6.5 percent last month, the data showed, outperforming the five percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey.
"The national economy withstood pressure and continued to maintain steady progress," the NBS said in a statement about the first three quarters of the year.
Beijing and Washington agreed over the weekend to conduct a fresh round of trade talks this week as leaders attempt to walk back from the brink of another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle.
Fears of a full-on trade war were also eased after Trump told Fox News that 100 percent levies on all Chinese goods were "not sustainable".
Eyes are fixed on potential outcomes from the Communist Party meeting, which is due to conclude in Beijing on Thursday.
Stock markets bounce back as China-US trade fears ease
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 20, 2025 -
Equity markets rose Monday after conciliatory comments from Donald Trump at the weekend eased worries about China-US trade tensions, while Tokyo stocks surged to a record on news of a deal to end political turmoil in Japan.
Investors also took heart from data showing China's economy grew on par with expectations in the third quarter, with the gains building on the positive mood from Wall Street, where all three main indexes bounced back from Thursday's losses.
Sentiment took a hit last week from a fresh flare-up in the trade standoff between Washington and Beijing when the US president threatened to hammer China with 100 percent tariffs in response to its latest controls on rare earth exports.
That led to another round of tit-for-tat measures and Trump warning that a meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping planned for next week might not go ahead.
However, tempers appeared to have cooled at the weekend, with the two sides agreeing Saturday to hold more trade talks.
Chinese state media said Vice Premier He Lifeng and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had held "candid, in-depth and constructive exchanges" during a call, and that both sides agreed to hold a new round of negotiations "as soon as possible".
Hours before the call, Fox News released excerpts of an interview with Trump in which he said he would meet Xi at the APEC summit after all, and added that the 100 percent tariff was "not sustainable".
Markets across Asia rose on the softer tone, with Hong Kong up more than two percent and Shanghai also well up as data showed China's economy grew in line with expectations in the third quarter, though at its slowest pace in a year.
The data was released just hours before the start of a closely watched four-day meeting in Beijing with top Communist Party officials focused on long-term economic planning.
Sydney, Seoul, Wellington, Taipei, Mumbai, Bangkok and Manila also rallied with London, Paris and Frankfurt.
"Catalysed by Trump's remark... markets appear priced for a positive or at least less-bad outcome," said Chris Weston at Pepperstone.
"The market's base case now seems to be that China will offer concessions on its rare-earth export controls, paving the way for the US to extend the current 30 percent 'tariff truce' by another 90 days beyond its 10 November deadline."
Tokyo led the gains, surging more than three percent to a new peak, as Japan's ruling party said it was set to sign a new coalition deal on Monday, paving the way for Sanae Takaichi to become the country's first woman prime minister.
Stocks were sent into a spin last week when her bid to become premier -- having won her party's leadership earlier in the month -- was derailed after its alliance partner withdrew its support.
Traders also took heart from a bounceback for US regional bank stocks Friday, which had been pummelled Thursday following disclosures from two mid-sized players of expected losses tied to problem loans.
The recovery Friday in those banks -- Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorp and Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorporation -- and other lenders suggested investors were less fearful of systemic problems.
- Key figures at around 0715 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.4 percent at 49,185.50 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.3 percent at 25,838.94
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.6 percent at 3,863.89 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 9,382.39
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1664 from $1.1670 on Friday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3423 from $1.3433
Dollar/yen: UP at 150.59 yen from 150.50 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.87 percent from 86.88 pence
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $57.01 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.9 percent at $60.77 per barrel
New York - Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 46,190.61 (close)
dan/jm
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