HONG KONG, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Chinese stocks fell on Wednesday as the widened U.S. chip export ban heightened investor concerns about geopolitical risks, even as the third-quarter economic data came in above expectations.

The broader market mood darkened after a blast at a Gaza hospital dimmed hopes for containing the conflict in the Middle East and complicated U.S. President Joe Biden's already fraught trip to the region.

** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index dropped 0.57%, while the Shanghai Composite Index dipped 0.61%.

** Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index were largely flat.

** China's economy grew 4.9% in July-September from the year earlier, beating analysts' forecasts.

** Consumption and industrial activity in September also surprised on the upside, suggesting the recent flurry of policy measures is helping to bolster a tentative recovery.

** Third-quarter GDP and September activity data, National Day Golden Week tourism revenue, as well as high-frequency trackers jointly point to "more green shoots" in the economy and indicate the sequential growth momentum continues to recover on the back of the ongoing policy easing, albeit at a gradual pace, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

** "If this easing continues, full-year 2023 GDP growth could still hit the official 5%. The risk is if Beijing normalises policy pre-maturely, then growth could undershoot the official target as private sector and consumer confidence are still feeble," said Chi Lo, senior market strategist for Asia Pacific at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

** Meanwhile, the Biden administration's latest restrictions on more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip exports to China weighed on market sentiment.

** In China A-shares, 5G communications stocks and AI stocks dropped 2.1% and 1.7%, respectively, leading the decline.

** Hong Kong-listed tech firms lost 1.2%.

** BYD's shares in Shenzhen jumped 5% as the electric vehicle giant sees its third-quarter net profit to as much as double.

(Reporting by Summer Zhen; editing by Eileen Soreng)