NBS Deputy Director Qiu Xiaohua told a press conference Wednesday morning that this growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than that a year earlier.

Growth rose to 8.1 percent year-on-year for the third quarter alone, all-but guaranteeing Asia's second-largest economy will easily exceed its stated 7.0 percent growth figure for the year as a whole.

Despite a tricky global economic situation, China's already swift economic growth has accelerated throughout the year, from 7.6 percent and 8.0 in the first and second quarters respectively.

He said that the added value of the primary industry was 895.9 billion yuan, up three percent; that of the secondary industry was3.8168 trillion yuan, up 10 percent; and that of the tertiary industry was 2.4555 trillion yuan, up 6.6 percent.

However the statistics revealed that already vast government spending to stoke economic demand most likely increased still further in the third quarter.

The official said that foreign direct investment to China this year is expected to exceed 50 billion US dollars, "or possibly to reach 55 billion dollars this if everything goes smoothly."

Qiu added that in the first nine months, the growth of foreign investment was evident, with a contracted FDI of 68.4 billion dollars, up 38.4 percent year-on-year. The actually used FDI jumped 22.6 percent to 39.6 billion dollars.

Meanwhile, the total import and export grew 18.3 percent to 445.1 billion dollars in the three quarters, with export up 19.4 percent to 232.6 billion dollars and import up 17.2 percent to 212.6 billion dollars. A trade surplus of 20 billion dollars was realized, 6.6 billion dollars more than a year earlier.

China's export to the United States grew by 24.5 percent; to the EU, up 13.8 percent; to the ASEAN, up 27.4 percent; to Hong Kong, up 25.2 percent, to the Republic of Korea, up 19.9 percent; and to Japan, up 4.9 percent, he said.

A total of 2.5838 trillion yuan (US$312 billion) in fix assets investment was materialized in China in the first three quarters of this year, up 21.8 percent year-on-year.

The deputy Director said that investment in capital construction rose 24.6 percent, that in technological renovation and upgrading grew 16.3 percent, and that in real estate development jumped 29.4 percent.

Investment in agricultural and water conservancy sectors, infrastructure facilities, industries and various modern services all maintained steady growth; while that in eastern, central and western regions grew side by side, Qiu said.

China's domestic market continued to operate in a stable manner during the first three quarters of 2002, with total retail sales of consumer goods rising 8.7 percent year-on-year to more than 2.9111 trillion yuan (US$351.7 billion).

China has witnessed significant increases in the sales of automobiles, housing and telecommunications equipment, indicating the emergence of a new consumer pattern.

In the January-September period, the sales of telecommunications equipment and automobiles increased 62.4 percent and 58 percent, respectively. Housing sales jumped 31.9 percent, and individual buyers contributed 91 percent of the total housing sales.

In contrast with the strong consumer sales, Qiu said, consumer prices remained relatively low. Consumer prices dropped 0.8 percentage points in the last three quarters from a year earlier.

NBS Chief Economist Yao Jingyuan said the concurrence of the fast-growing national economy and the relatively low consumer prices is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. However, this phenomenon is common and should not be interpreted as a sign of deflation.

In the nine months, consumer goods sales increased 9.8 percent to 1.85 trillion yuan in urban areas, and rose 6.8 percent to 1.06trillion yuan while sales in rural areas.

Qiu said that, in view of the slower growth of rural retail sales, the Chinese government is preparing to take steps to stimulate demand in those areas.

However China's economy faces continued deflationary pressure, with consumer prices falling 0.8 percent nationwide over the first nine months of the year compared to the same period of 2001.

Qiu acknowledged the role played by these expansionary measures. "The state policies of expanding domestic demand and market demand have become the two major driving forces of economic development," he told reporters.

(People's Daily October 17, 2002)