China's GDP expands 5.2 pct in first three quarters

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday.

China's GDP reached over 91.3 trillion yuan (about 12.7 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters, the NBS data revealed.

In the third quarter of 2023, the country's GDP expanded 4.9 percent year on year, according to the NBS.

In the first three quarters of this year, in the face of a grave and complex international environment and arduous tasks of reform, development and stability at home, all regions and departments made great efforts to push forward high-quality development, and stabilize employment and prices, the NBS said.

Market demand kept expanding, production and supply increased steadily, and economic performance continued to improve, the NBS confirmed.

China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 6.8 percent year on year in the first three quarters to more than 34.2 trillion yuan, the NBS added.

The country's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, rose by 4.0 percent year on year in the first three quarters, according to the NBS.

China's fixed-asset investment went up 3.1 percent year on year in the first three quarters to 37.5 trillion yuan, while the country's value-added service output increased by 6.0 percent year on year in the first three quarters, the NBS data showed.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate in China stood at 5.3 percent in the first three quarters of 2023, official data revealed.

China's per capita disposable income was 29,398 yuan in the first three quarters, up 6.3 percent year on year in nominal terms, according to the data. After deducting price factors, per capita disposable income rose 5.9 percent from the previous year.

This economic growth in the first three quarters of 2023 has laid a solid foundation for China to fulfill its full-year growth target, the NBS said. The full-year growth target for 2023 was set at around 5 percent.