China’s GDP grew by 9.8 per cent year-on-year in the first three quarters of the year to 82.31 trillion yuan (US$12.79 trillion), compared with 12.7 per cent in the first half, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday (October 18).

In the third quarter, China’s economic growth came in at 4.9 per cent both on a yearly basis and on a two-year average basis, compared with 7.9 per cent and 5.5 per cent in the second quarter, respectively, the NBS said.

The NBS said the economy has managed to withstand multiple pressures such as the coronavirus (COVID-19) resurgence and heavy rainfall in the first nine months, sustaining its recovery with major economic indicators falling in a reasonable range.

The tight supply of electricity and coal in China is periodic and its impact on the economy can be controlled, said Fu Linghui, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, China’s GDP expanded by 0.2 per cent in the July-September period, versus 1.3 per cent in the April-June period.

Industrial output rose by 11.8 per cent year-on-year over the first three quarters of the year, putting the two-year average growth to 6.4 per cent, the NBS said.

Retail sales grew by 16.4 per cent on a yearly basis in the first three quarters and 3.9 per cent on the two-year average basis.

The growth in fixed-asset investment came in at 7.3 per cent on a yearly basis in the January-September period, sending the two-year average growth to 3.8 per cent.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 4.9 per cent last month, compared with 5.1 per cent in August, the bureau said.

Nevertheless, the bureau said the country’s economic recovery remains uneven and unstable, and more efforts will be made to boost market vitality, release demand potential and keep the economy running within the reasonable range.