Chin's GDP grows 9.4% in first three quarters
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-20 11:23

The Chinese economy grew a robust 9.4 percent in the first nine months, a spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics announced in Beijing Thursday.

Preliminary estimates show that China's gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 10.63 trillion yuan (US$1.3 trillion), a year-on-year rise of 9.4 percent, or 0.1 percentage point decline from the growth of a year earlier, said Zheng Jingping, the spokesman.

Of this total, the primary industry registered a value-added of 1.35 trillion yuan (US166.5 billion), up 5 percent. The value-added of secondary industry totaled 6.04 trillion yuan (US744.8 billion), up 11.1 percent, and that of the tertiary industry rose 8.1 percent to 3.23 trillion yuan (US398.3 billion).

The economy showed a steady growth momentum with GDP growth rates standing at 9.4 percent, 9.5 percent and 9.4 percent for the first, second and third quarter, respectively, Zheng said.

CPI up 2% in first three quarters

The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.0 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, a decline of 2.1 percentage points compared with a year earlier, Zheng said.

Prices maintained a moderately upward trend with 1.7 percent rise in cities and 2.5 percent rise in rural areas, he said at a press conference.

In terms of commodity categories, slowed increase in food prices, particularly in grain price was the main reason for the decline in the rise of CPI, said Zheng.

In the period, food prices rose 3.3 percent, or 7.6 percentage points slower than that of a year earlier. Grain prices rose 1.9 percent while that of housing climbed 5.6 percent and prices for recreation, education, culture goods and services rose 2.6 percent.

Retail sales prices rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, said Zheng.

Producer's prices of manufactured goods increased 5.4 percent and purchasing prices of raw material, fuel and power were up 9.2 percent.

Fixed assets investment up 26.1%

China's total fixed assets investment was 5,706.1 billion yuan in the first nine months, up 26.1 percent year-on-year, Zheng said.

The growth rate represented a 1.6 percentage points decline compared with the growth of a year earlier, said Zheng at a press conference.

Investment in fixed assets in urban areas was 4,874.1 billion yuan, up 27.7 percent, or 2.2 percentage points drop from a year earlier.

Of the total urban investments, real estate development rose 22.2 percent to 1,037.8 billion yuan. Its growth was 6.1 percentage points lower than that of the previous year.

Investment in coal and oil production and in railway transport maintained rapid growth in the same period, said Zheng.