BEIJING – China has the second largest economy in the world. The economy in China grew 7.8% from 2012. That increase represents a growth of 7.5% from the previous quarter. The National Bureau of Statistics shared the news at a media conference on Friday. “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.
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 during the conference earlier this month. “Impetus comes from reform, regulation and innovation,” said the President. “The slowdown is an intended result of China’s own regulatory initiatives”.
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.
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,” said Sheng.
The spokesperson added,”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″.
The official figures also showed growth in industrial output, retail sales and fixed asset investment.
After years of blistering growth, China has seen its pace of expansion slow recently and there have been fears that growth may slow further.
China has set a growth target of 7.5% for the year. Analysts said the latest numbers indicated that it was likely that Beijing would meet this.
“This is an indication that China’s economic growth is holding up in a range which is within the comfort zone of both the Chinese policymakers as well as global watchers,” said Song Seng Wun, a senior economist with CIMB Research .
