Industrial production in the first three quarters of this year has been a highlight of China's economic performance, said Sheng Laiyun, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), on Friday.
Despite a complicated external environment and emerging domestic challenges, the Chinese economy has demonstrated generally stable performance, according to the official.
NBS data showed that the gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters.
Additionally, China's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, increased by 5.8 percent year-on-year during the same period in 2024, according to official data released on Friday.
Sheng said that industrial growth outpaced the overall GDP growth by one percentage point, supporting the country's economic growth in the first nine months and contributing close to 40 percent to the overall economic growth.
He mentioned several factors that supported the strong industrial performance in the first three quarters.
The official stressed that China's industrial base is solid, and the country is home to all over 500 categories of industry listed by the United Nations.
"Despite pressures from external challenges and domestic structural adjustments, China's industry has demonstrated strong competitiveness. Another contributing factor to this year's strong industrial performance is related to export. In the first three quarters, industrial export delivery value grew by 4.1 percent, while the exports of goods grew by 6.2 percent. These export products not only demonstrate our country's strong manufacturing and processing capabilities but also highlight the significant support that exports provide for industrial development,” he said.
In addition, Sheng highlighted that the growth of new driving forces and the development of new quality productive forces also play important supporting roles in industrial performance.
"In recent years, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has made great efforts to promote industrial structural adjustment and transformation and upgrading, driving the development of new quality productive forces in the industrial sector," he said.
Another important reason is the country's equipment renewal and trade-in policies, along with efforts to implement major national strategies and strengthen security capacity in key areas, said Sheng.
China's economy is expected to continue recovering in the fourth quarter, following signs of stabilization in September, according to the official.
Sheng said the 4.8-percent growth rate in the first three quarters came as a hard-won result achieved amid increasing external pressures and ongoing internal structural adjustments, and this growth highlights the economy's strong resilience and potential and lays a solid foundation for future recovery.
"From a broader perspective, I believe that the industrial sector will continue to maintain stable development momentum because the supporting factors I mentioned earlier are still in place, and internal driving forces such as new momentum and economic transformation will continue to strengthen. Especially, in the fourth quarter, as a package of policies is implemented, China's industrial economy will maintain a trend of stable development. Both quality and efficiency will be enhanced," said Sheng.
Strong industrial performance in first three quarters highlight of China's economy: official
Strong industrial performance in first three quarters highlight of China's economy: official
The 2024 Kazakhstan Tourism Year in China officially closed on Wednesday in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, with fruitful results achieved in promoting travel between the two countries. An international tourism forum was held within the framework of the closing ceremony. About 300 people, including Kazakhstan's Vice Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerkinbayev Yerzhan Malikovich, Chinese Consul General in Almaty Jiang Wei, and representatives from tourism and media of both countries, attended the event.
Yerkinbayev said that Kazakhstan plans to expand passenger capacity at land ports connecting the countries and increase investment in tourism infrastructure construction to attract more Chinese tourists.
"We are seeing more and more Chinese tourists coming to Kazakhstan, so we should improve tourism infrastructure and not let these visitors down. Today at the forum we announced that we will open new border crossings and improve the facilities at existing ones. Some improvement work has already started this year, making these crossings convenient not only for the clearance of goods but also for people," he said.
"The leaders of the two countries have announced that 2025 will be the Chinese Tourism Year in Kazakhstan. We are looking forward to the series of activities planned by our Chinese colleagues, and will fully support every event to be held in Kazakhstan next year," he added.
Jiang, the Chinese Consul General in Almaty, said that all-round and high-level China-Kazakhstan tourism cooperation has been launched, which will inject new impetus into promoting mutual understanding between the two peoples and building a more meaningful and dynamic China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future.
"Since the launch of the Kazakhstan Tourism Year event, departments at all levels of the two countries, especially the tourism departments, have held promotion meetings, forums, and tourism exhibitions in both countries, providing tourists with a variety of colorful activities. Such events have opened up windows for promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of the two countries and enhancing mutual learning between civilizations," Jiang said.
At the closing ceremony, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Kazakhstan presented the "Most Influential International Media Cooperation Award" to CCTV-4 Channel of China Media Group (CMG), commending the three-part documentary "Bond with China—For the Common Dream" produced in cooperation with the Khabar Media Group of Kazakhstan.
The program was launched in July this year at a China-Kazakhstan cultural exchange event organized by CMG, and was aired simultaneously on China's CCTV-4, the TV channels under the Khabar Media Group, and Atameken TV.
Daniyel Serzhanuly, deputy chairman of the board for the Kazakh Tourism National Company, said that the documentary showcases the culture and beautiful scenery of Kazakhstan to Chinese audiences. He expressed hope for deepened cooperation in media between the two countries.
"Among the more than 30 cooperation projects implemented under the tourism year program, there are media cooperation projects. The most successful one is the three-part documentary about Kazakhstan produced in cooperation with CCTV-4. The program was launched before the SCO Summit, which showed the tourism potential of Kazakhstan to Chinese audiences and improved Chinese people's understanding of Kazakhstan," he said.
Two sub-forums and a B2B tourism business negotiation meeting were also held within the framework of the closing ceremony.
2024 Kazakhstan Tourism Year in China closes with fruitful results
