China's third-quarter economic growth beats expectations

China's economy grew faster than analysts had expected in the third quarter of this year. According to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, gross domestic product grew by about 4.5 percent from July to September.

The growth rate was about 4.3 percent in the second quarter. A survey of economists by AFP had projected growth of around 4.4 percent for the third quarter. In the first nine months of this year, the growth rate reached about 4.6 percent.

Strong global demand for computers, semiconductors and artificial intelligence-related equipment has boosted exports. China's exports grew by about 16 percent in the first nine months. However, investment in the real estate sector has declined, and retail sales have shown only modest improvement.

China's government has set an economic growth target of about 4.5 to 5 percent for this year. Due to rising energy costs, the International Monetary Fund has lowered its annual growth forecast for China to about 4.5 percent.

Economist Guo Shan of Hutong Research said exports are currently the only strong point for the economy. Growing trade surpluses have also increased tensions between China and the United States and European Union.

According to Nepal Rastra Bank, the buying rate for one Chinese yuan today is NPR 22.68.