China’s Economic Growth Decelerates

China's gross domestic product, which expanded 7.6% in the second quarter of 2012, grew 7.4% in the July-September period the smallest increase since the first quarter of 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics reports.

The latest three months marked the seventh consecutive quarter of slower growth. Demand for Chinese exports cooled in Europe and other markets, resulting in a scant 2.7% year-over-year gain in August.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this week that the country's economic growth is stabilizing. The statistics bureau said on Wednesday that China's exports jumped 9.9% in September from a year earlier. A 10.7% drop in shipments to the European Union was offset by higher exports to the U.S. and most other markets. Imports, which had shrunk for three straight months, grew 2.4%.

The country's factory activity, which rose 8.9% in August from a year earlier, advanced 9.2% in September, according to the bureau. The agency also said China's retail sales, which climbed 13.2% year over year in August, jumped 14.2% last month.

That consumer growth demand was not reflected in September's auto sales in China, which fell 2% to 1.62 million vehicles.