China's GDP growth recovers to 7.8%

China's growth accelerated to 7.8 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, posting the fastest pace of expansion this year, official data showed on Friday. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the world's No. 2 economy in the July-September period, picking up from 7.5 percent in the second quarter and 7. 7 percent in the first, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its Website. GDP in the first nine months expanded 7.7 percent of the same period last year, which was above the government-set 2013 growth target of 7.5 percent, according to the bureau. "China's economy has maintained a steady growth with major indicators staying within the rational range," bureau spokesman Sheng Laiyun told a press conference in Beijing today, forwarded by state-run Xinhua News Agency. "Major economic indicators are in favor of promoting economic restructuring and pushing forward reforms," Sheng said, adding that the authorities would let the market play a better role to bring out the economy's intrinsic vigor. The latest GDP figures headed a string of other data showing a rebound in the world's second-largest economy after China's full-year annual growth eased to 7.8 percent last year, its weakest since 1999. Industrial output increased 9.6 percent year on year in the first nine months, while the growth of fixed-asset investment, a measure of government and private spending on infrastructure, stood at 20.2 percent during the period, up 0.1 percentage points over the first half of the year. In the same context, Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed confidence in China's economic future, while addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO summit, which was held in Bali, Indonesia earlier this month, Xinhua reported. "Impetus comes from reform, regulation and innovation," Xi said, adding that the slowdown is an intended result of China's own regulatory initiatives.