China Q3 2025 GDP at 4.8% as property slump drags demand

China's economy slowed to 4.8 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2025, official figures released Monday showed, marking the weakest expansion in a year as a deep property downturn and cooling domestic demand counterbalanced resilient factory output and strong exports. Quarter on quarter, GDP rose 1.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, slightly ahead of some forecasts but underscoring an uneven recovery since the pandemic.

The data painted a mixed picture. Industrial production accelerated, with September output up 6.5 percent from a year earlier, while the surveyed urban unemployment rate edged down to 5.2 percent. Retail sales growth moderated to 3.0 percent in September, and fixed-asset investment excluding rural areas shifted into contraction, falling 0.5 percent year to date. The housing sector remained the principal drag: residential property sales were down 7.6 percent year to date, property investment plunged 13.9 percent, and both new and existing home prices posted accelerating monthly declines in September.

Analysts said the figures reflect structural strains that have persisted since the property crisis emerged in 2020. Heavy debt burdens at the local...