BEIJING -- Chinese stocks rose robustly Thursday despite that the country's economic growth continued to slow for the seventh straight quarter.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.24 percent, or 26.07 points, to finish at 2,131.69, while the the Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,798.2, up 157.02 points, or 1.82 percent.

China's economy grew 7.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012, slower from 7.6 percent in the second quarter and 8.1 percent in the first, the National Bureau of Statistics announced Thursday.