China's Q3 GDP growth accelerates to 7.8 pct

BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's gross domestic product growth accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, up from 7.5 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics announced on Friday.

Growth in the first nine months stood at 7.7 percent, which is in line with market expectations and was above the government's full-year target of 7.5 percent.

"China's economy has maintained a steady growth with major indicators staying within the rational range," Sheng Laiyun, a spokesman for the NBS, said at a press conference.

According to the NBS data, the GDP totaled 38.68 trillion yuan (6.3 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months.

"Major economic indicators are in favour of promoting economic restructuring and pushing forward reforms," Sheng said, adding that the authorities would let the market play a better role to bring out the economy's intrinsic vigor.

The latest GDP figures headed a string of other data showing a rebound in the world's second-largest economy after China's full-year annual growth eased to 7.8 percent last year, its weakest since 1999.

Industrial output increased 9.6 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2013, while the growth of fixed-asset investment, a measure of government and private spending on infrastructure, stood at 20.2 percent during the period, up 0.1 percentage points over the first half of the year.

Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, increased 12.9 percent from a year earlier. The growth rate picked up by 0.2 percentage points from the first half, according to the NBS.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed confidence in China's economic future while addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali earlier this month.

"Impetus comes from reform, regulation and innovation," he said, adding that the slowdown is an intended result of China's own regulatory initiatives.