China is confident of achieving its annual growth target of around 5 percent based on economic data for the first three quarters and the ongoing positive trends driven by vigorous policies, a senior official said on Friday.
The country's gross domestic product (GDP) grew near the target for the first three quarters of 2024 despite increasing external pressure and pains from domestic structural adjustment, showing the strong resilience and potential of the Chinese economy, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Sheng Laiyun told a press conference in Beijing.
"China's GDP grew 4.8 percent year on year in the first three quarters, laying a solid foundation for achieving the annual target. In September, economic operation saw positive changes, which has enhanced our development confidence. Especially since the Political Bureau meeting, a series of additional policies have been rolled out at a faster pace, greatly boosting confidence of market entities. With confidence, enterprises will be willing to invest, and consumers will be willing to spend," Sheng said.
The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting on September 26 to analyze and discuss the economic situation and make plans for future economic work.
The meeting called for effectively implementing existing policies, stepping up efforts to roll out incremental policies, and further tailoring policy measures to be more targeted and effective.
The existing and incremental policies will strengthen the momentum of economic recovery and produce positive effects in investment, consumption and industrial development, Sheng said.
"In the fourth quarter, there is a huge space for policies, which are very vigorous. These policies are being urgently implemented by local governments so as to achieve tangible outcomes as soon as possible. This will greatly increase economic development momentum," he said.
"We can also see the trend of steady economic recovery and positive changes from some leading indicators. For example, electricity consumption data and changes in prices of some means of production in early October, and consumption data during the National Day Golden Week holiday all indicate it is highly likely that the economy will stabilize and pick up in the fourth quarter," Sheng said.
Noting prices of production means is a key indicator for economic operation, Sheng told reporters that in early October the prices of 33 kinds of production means out of the 50 monitored means increased compared to those in late September.
During the seven-day National Day holiday, the number of domestic trips across China saw a year-on-year increase of 5.9 percent on a comparable basis, and the total spending by domestic tourists grew by 6.3 percent year on year, according to Sheng.
"The rebounding prices are beneficial for improving operations of enterprises, and the consumption data during the National Day holiday show the potential of China's consumption, as more people traveled during the holiday," he said.
"Based on the above factors, we think that in the fourth quarter, the economy will maintain the trend of steady recovery that started in September. So, we are fully confident of achieving the annual growth target," Sheng said.
China confident of achieving annual growth target of around 5 pct: official
