China's economy grew at its slowest pace in three years as investment slowed and demand fell in key export markets such as the US and Europe. Gross domestic product rose by 7.6% in the second quarter, compared with the same period a year ago. That is down from 8.1% in the previous three months. In March, Beijing cut its growth target for the whole of 2012 to 7.5%. China accounts for about a fifth of the world's total economic output and any slowdown may hamper a global recovery.