China's GDP rose by 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2017, slower than the 6.9 percent in the second quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.
China's total amount of GDP reached 59 trillion yuan ($8.9 trillion) in the first three quarters of this year, up 6.9 percent year-on-year, according to a statement on the website of the NBS.
China has achieved moderate but stable and sound economic development during the third quarter, with the increase in favorable factors supporting the economy in maintaining its medium-high growth rate and moving to a medium-high level, said the statement.
According to the NBS, the national above-scale industrial added value has grown 6.7 percent year-on-year, an increase of 0.7 percentage points from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the country's retail sales maintained fast growth, with online retail sales showing strong momentum. National retail sales of consumer goods reached 26 trillion yuan in the first three quarters, up 10.4 percent year-on-year. Online retail sales soared 34.2 percent year-on-year to 4.9 trillion yuan over the same period.
China's economy has been transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said Wednesday. [Special Coverage]
China will leverage the fundamental role of consumption in promoting economic growth, will improve the framework of regulation underpinned by monetary policy and macro-prudential policy and will see interest rates and exchange rates become more market-based, Xi told delegates to the 19th National Congress of the CPC, which kicked off on Wednesday in Beijing.
