China's GDP up by 5.2% year-on-year in the first three quarters

China's gross domestic product grew by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter after a 6.3 percent rise in the second quarter, posting a steady recovery despite downward pressures, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Oct. 18.

In the first three quarters, China's GDP grew by 5.2 percent to 91.3 trillion yuan ($12.5 trillion) after a 5.5 percent growth in the first half of the year, the bureau said. Figures released by the NBS showed China's value-added industrial output - a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors - grew by 4.5 percent in September from a year earlier, flat with the figure in August.

In the first three quarters, value-added industrial output grew by 4 percent compared to the same period last year, while, in the first half of the year, it rose by 3.8 percent from a year earlier.

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, grew by 5.5 percent year-on-year in September, up from the 4.6 percent growth in August.

In the first three quarters, retail sales rose by 6.8 percent compared to the same period last year, while in the first half of the year, they grew by 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

In the January-September period, fixed-asset investment - a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment - grew by 3.1 percent compared with a year earlier, while, in the January-August period, it jumped 3.2 percent year-on-year.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5 percent in September from 5.2 percent in August, according to the NBS.

Despite the steady recovery, the NBS warned of pressures from a grimmer and more complicated external environment as well as insufficient demand, saying more efforts should be made to consolidate the foundation for the economic rebound.