Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that, based on preliminary calculations, gross domestic product (GDP) in the first three quarters reached 107.1071 trillion yuan, up 4.6% year on year at constant prices.
By quarter, growth was 5.0% in the first quarter, 4.3% in the second quarter and 4.5% in the third quarter.
"Overall, economic performance in the first three quarters was generally stable, maintaining a development trend of new momentum, better structure and improved quality and efficiency, which strongly supported high-quality economic development," said Mao Shengyong, spokesperson and deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics.
Economy Maintains Stable Operation
To judge whether the economy is stable, the main focus is on four major macroeconomic indicators: growth, employment, prices and the international balance of payments.
In terms of economic growth, GDP in the first three quarters exceeded 107 trillion yuan, with year-on-year growth of 4.6%, in line with the full-year economic growth target.
According to forecasts by some international institutions, the 4.6% growth rate remains ahead among major global economies; especially compared with the second quarter, third-quarter growth rebounded by 0.2 percentage points.
The economic increment in the first three quarters reached 5.7 trillion yuan, the largest increase in nearly five years.
Looking at monthly indicators in the third quarter, most indicators in September improved compared with July and August.
"In the third quarter, the impact of international crude oil price increases caused by the Middle East conflict on global economic growth was prominent, and some international institutions generally predicted lower economic growth for major economies than in the second quarter, but China's third-quarter growth still rebounded by 0.2 percentage points from the second quarter, which was hard-won and commendable," Mao said.
In terms of employment, the average surveyed urban unemployment rate in the first three quarters was 5.2%, unchanged from the same period last year.
In September, the surveyed urban unemployment rate was 5.2%, down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month; recently, the number of workers in industries such as transportation has increased.
In terms of prices, affected by rising energy prices and amid somewhat increased global inflationary pressure, China's consumer prices maintained moderate increases in the first three quarters, with the consumer price index (CPI) up 0.9% year on year.
Since the beginning of this year, the monthly CPI increase has remained around 1%, generally stable.
In the first three quarters, core CPI, excluding food and energy prices, rose 1.1%.
In terms of the international balance of payments, total goods trade in the first three quarters increased 18.8% year on year, setting a record high for the same period.
Foreign exchange reserves remained above 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars for six consecutive months, the renminbi exchange rate was stable with an upward bias, and by the end of the third quarter the renminbi had appreciated by about 4.3% against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year.
Mao said the Party Central Committee and the State Council have formulated and introduced a series of policies, and the important task now is to implement them well and give full play to their effects.
From the first three quarters, the characteristics of stable economic operation and movement toward new and better development were obvious, while positive factors promoting stable operation and high-quality development continued to accumulate, providing solid support for achieving the full-year economic growth target.
New Progress in High-Quality Development
New momentum -- since the beginning of this year, innovation-driven results have been prominent, and breakthroughs in key fields have emerged and been applied intensively, including the advent of "Jiuzhang 4," the successful maiden flight of the Long March 10B, the rollout of the world's first largest-tonnage circular rail crane, and new breakthroughs in Earth-Moon high-speed laser communications, providing hard-core technological support for industrial transformation and upgrading.
Scientific and technological achievements are accelerating their conversion into industrial applications, and new track industries such as artificial intelligence, new energy and new materials continue to maintain high growth, with innovation-driven support for economic development continuing to strengthen.
"The rapid growth of new momentum is a prominent highlight of this year's economic development. New industries continue to grow and expand, new demand is sprouting, and the conversion of old and new momentum is advancing steadily, playing an important role in stable economic operation and moving toward the new," Mao said.
Preliminary estimates show that in the first three quarters, new momentum represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital and intelligent economy and modern services continued to contribute more than 40% to economic growth, while growth in high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing both accelerated, and the "relay baton" of economic growth was further passed to new momentum.
Better structure -- from the perspective of industrial structure, development of the three sectors became more coordinated.
Agricultural production was sound, and another bumper grain harvest is expected for the year.
The scale of manufacturing remained generally stable. In the first three quarters, manufacturing value added accounted for 25.7% of GDP, up 0.6 percentage point from the same period last year; the share of high-end industries rose, with high-tech manufacturing accounting for 1.6 percentage points more of value added of industrial enterprises above designated size year on year.
The service sector's contribution to economic growth further increased, with new services and research-and-development-oriented services maintaining relatively fast growth.
In the first three quarters, the combined share of value added in information transmission, software and information technology services and in leasing and business services in GDP rose 0.5 percentage point from the same period last year.
From the perspective of demand structure, although investment growth declined, investment's supporting role in optimizing supply and promoting innovation continued to strengthen.
In the first three quarters, investment in intellectual property products increased 9.3% year on year, and its share of total investment rose 2.4 percentage points from the same period last year.
Domestic demand contributed more than 70% to economic growth.
The urban-rural income gap further narrowed. In the first three quarters, the ratio of per capita disposable income between urban and rural residents narrowed by 0.04 year on year, and income growth in the central and western regions was faster than in the eastern region.
Improved quality and efficiency -- from the perspective of green transformation, preliminary estimates show that energy consumption per unit of GDP fell 3.1% year on year in the first three quarters, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeded 60% for six consecutive months.
From the perspective of opening up, China has become a major trading partner of 169 countries and regions, the share of intermediate goods exports has steadily increased, and high-level opening platforms are being built at an accelerated pace.
From the perspective of security, China has accelerated the green transformation of energy and diversified imports while expanding independent production, effectively resisting risks, hedging fluctuations and stabilizing expectations.
From the perspective of enterprise efficiency, from January to August, total profits of industrial enterprises above designated size rose 15.7% year on year, maintaining relatively fast growth.
Artificial Intelligence Helps Improve Economic Quality and Efficiency
Wang Guanhua, spokesperson of the National Bureau of Statistics and deputy director of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the National Economy, said that since the beginning of this year China has actively seized strategic opportunities and deepened and expanded the "AI Plus" initiative, with artificial intelligence accelerating from technological innovation to industrial application and becoming a new engine of economic growth and an accelerator for the conversion of old and new momentum.
Promoting the intelligent transformation of manufacturing.
AI application scenarios have expanded rapidly, creating demand for chips, servers, intelligent terminals and other products, strongly driving growth in digital product manufacturing.
In the first three quarters, value added in digital product manufacturing above designated size contributed more than one-third to the growth of industry above designated size.
Among this, output of integrated circuits and optical fibers increased 23.3% and 18.6%, respectively, and as enterprises advanced intelligent and digital upgrading, output of intelligent production equipment such as industrial automatic regulating instruments and control systems and industrial control computers and systems rose 30.6% and 25.8%, respectively.
The penetration rate of AI technology applications among manufacturing enterprises above designated size rose steadily, and a number of relatively advanced lights-out factories, digital workshops and intelligent production lines were put into operation at an accelerated pace, with AI rapidly changing from a "technical option" into a "production standard."
Driving the development of modern services.
The implementation and application of AI cannot be separated from supporting services such as model training, software development, and computing power and algorithms.
In the first three quarters, value added in information transmission, software and information technology services increased 10.4% year on year, with AI an important driving force.
From January to August, operating revenue of digital technology application enterprises above designated size rose 7.5% year on year.
Promoting consumption upgrading.
AI is turning cutting-edge technology into consumer experiences within easy reach.
In the first three quarters, retail sales of wearable smart devices by units above designated size increased by more than 70% year on year.
AI also strongly promoted the development of new smart retail formats, with retail sales of unattended stores growing by more than 25% in the first three quarters.
Driving investment and exports in emerging fields.
The expansion of AI applications drove continued investment and capacity expansion across the industrial chain.
In the first three quarters, investment in electronic circuit manufacturing, integrated circuit manufacturing and information services increased 58.7%, 14.2% and 20.2%, respectively.
Supported by the "two new" policies, enterprises accelerated intelligent upgrading, driving investment in purchases of equipment and tools up 9.7%.
At the same time, relying on whole-chain supporting advantages, China quickly launched AI software and hardware products adapted to different scenarios and precisely matched overseas market demand.
In the first three quarters, exports of products such as electronic components and wires and cables increased 70% and 25.3%, respectively.
Wang said AI is deeply empowering industrial transformation and continuing to help improve economic quality and efficiency.
China has the world's most complete industrial system, rapid response capacity, massive data resources and an ultra-large domestic market, with very rich application scenarios across all sectors, and these unique advantages will continue to provide fertile ground for AI development.
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