China's GDP grows 6.2% in first 3 quarters

China's GDP expanded 6.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2019 to about 69.78 trillion yuan (US$9.87 trillion), data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Friday.

The growth was in line with the government's annual target of 6-6.5 percent set for 2019.

In the third quarter, the country's GDP rose 6 percent year on year, according to the NBS data.

The Chinese economy has maintained overall stability, the statistical authority said at a press conference, while acknowledging that China faces downward pressure amid slower global economic growth and more external uncertainties.

A breakdown of the data showed output of the service sector, which accounted for 54 percent of the total GDP, rose 7 percent in the first three quarters of the year, outpacing a 2.9-percent increase in the primary industry and a 5.6-percent rise in the secondary industry.

Consumption continued to be the mainstay in driving up demand, with the final consumption contributing 60.5 percent to the economic growth in the January-September period, NBS data showed.

Fixed-asset investment

China's fixed-asset investment grew 5.4 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2019, retreating 0.1 percentage points from the January-August period.

In the first nine months, the FAI amounted to 46.1 trillion yuan (US$6.5 trillion).

Investment by the state sector went up 7.3 percent during the period, while private-sector investment increased 4.7 percent, 0.2 percentage points lower than that in the first eight months.

"Investment has maintained steady growth, with that in high-tech industries continuing to post relatively fast growth," the NBS said in a statement.

Investment in high-tech manufacturing and services surged 12.6 percent and 13.8 percent year on year, respectively.

The FAI includes capital spent on infrastructure, property, machinery and other physical assets.

Industrial output

China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, expanded 5.6 percent year on year in the first three quarters.

Retail sales

China's retail sales of consumer goods rose 8.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2019.

Excluding sales of automobiles, the growth rate reached 9.1 percent during this period.

Retail sales in rural areas rose 9 percent, outpacing the 8-percent expansion in urban areas.

Smart household appliances and audio-video equipments by firms above a designated size reported a robust retail sales growth of 41.6 percent, indicating the acceleration of China's consumption upgrading.

Online sales continued to see fast expansion with a 16.8-percent year-on-year rise in the period, NBS data showed.

The national per capita consumption spending of households stood at 15,464 yuan (US$2,185), up 8.3 percent year on year. Among them, spending on services expanded 10.2 percent.

Property development

China's investment in property development grew 10.5 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2019, unchanged from the reading of the first eight months.

The total property investment during the Jan.-Sept. period stood at 9.80 trillion yuan (US$1.4 trillion), the NBS said.

The investment in residential buildings went up 14.9 percent year on year to 7.21 trillion yuan in the first nine months. The pace of growth remained unchanged from the Jan.-Aug. period.

Monday's data also showed commercial housing sales in terms of floor area totaled 1.19 billion square meters from January to September, down 0.1 percent from the same period last year, narrowing from the 0.6-percent decline in the first eight months.

In the first nine months, commercial housing sales in value gained 7.1 percent to 11.15 trillion yuan, up 0.4 percentage points from the first eight months.

Industrial capacity utilization rate

China's industrial capacity utilization rate stood at 76.4 percent in the third quarter of 2019, unchanged from the second quarter.

The figure was down 0.1 percentage points from the same period a year earlier.

The utilization rate in the first nine months was 76.2 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from the same period in 2018, the NBS said in a statement.

Among the three major sectors, the mining sector's utilization rate in Q3 jumped 3.6 percentage points from last year. Manufacturing capacity utilization remained flat, while the production and supply of electricity, thermal power, gas and water dipped 2.3 percentage points in utilization.

NBS data also showed that China's value-added industrial output expanded 5.6 percent year on year in the first three quarters.