Investing.com - China's economy showed strong third quarter growth, according to official data released on Wednesday that called for more focus on performance, and also matching analyst expectations along with solid figures for retail sales, industrial output and fixed asset investment.
China reported third quarter GDP with a quarter-on-quarter gain of 1.8%, meeting expectations along with a year-on-year pace of 6.7%.
As well in the Middle Kingdom, fixed asset investment hit the mark seen of a 8.2% year-on-year gain for September, while industrial production rose 6.1%, shy of the 6.4% year-on-year pace seen. Retail sales for September rose 10.7%, a tad more than the 10.6% gain seen year-on-year.
"The national economy maintained steady growth with progress made and quality improved in the first three quarters of 2016," China's National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. "However, we must be aware that the economic development is still in a critical period of transformation and upgrading, with old drivers of growths to be replaced by new ones. With a number of unstable and uncertain domestic and external factors interacting, the foundation of continued economic growth is not solid enough."
"The government will continue to "unswervingly advance supply-side structural reforms, appropriately expand aggregate demand, adopt scientific measures to stabilize economic growth, promote reforms, enhance restructuring, benefit people and control risks, earnestly implement the policies and reform measures, and work hard to consolidate the positive changes, so as to ensure the achievement of this year's target," the statement added.
China is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for nearly 45% of world consumption and the world's second largest crude oil importer.
The NBS did say that real-estate development, a key pillar of fixed-asset investment, slowed in the third quarter at a 5.8% pace in the first nine months of the year, cooling from 6.1% in the first half and 6.2% in the first quarter, while investment growth in residential property development moderated to 5.1% in the first nine months from 5.6% in the first half.
Growth in new residential housing starts measured in floor space slumped to 6.7% in the first nine months from 14% in the first half, while overall floor space for all real-estate development rose by 6.8%, down from 14.9% in the first half.