Workers assemble robots in Wuhu city, East China's Anhui Province on August 12, 2025. The city is building a national-level robotics industry cluster, bringing more than 300 upstream and downstream companies, forming a comprehensive industrial chain ecosystem encompassing complete machines, core components, and system integration. Photo: VCG

China's GDP expanded by 5.2 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of this year to reach 101.5036 trillion yuan ($14.24 trillion), showing that the Chinese economy has withstood outside pressure and maintained a steady growth trend, bearing the hallmarks of strong resilience and vitality. 

According to official data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, in the first three quarters, the value added of the industrial enterprises increased by 6.2 percent year-on-year. The value added of the equipment manufacturing industry grew by 9.7 percent, and that of the high-tech manufacturing sector rose by 9.6 percent, surpassing the overall growth of industrial enterprises above the designated size by 3.5 and 3.4 percentage points, respectively.

In a breakdown by products, the output of 3D printing equipment, industrial robots, and new-energy vehicles increased by 40.5 percent, 29.8 percent, and 29.7 percent year-on-year, respectively, according to the NBS.

In the first nine months, the total retail sales of consumer goods hit 36.5877 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent. Of them, online retail sales amounted to 11.2830 trillion yuan, up 9.8 percent year-on-year. 

The government's special trade-in policy for large-ticket consumer goods continued to show positive results, with retail sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment, furniture, communication equipment, and cultural and office supplies growing by 25.3 percent, 21.3 percent, 20.5 percent, and 19.9 percent, respectively.

In the first three quarters, national fixed asset investment reached 37.1535 trillion yuan, down 0.5 percent year-on-year. Excluding real estate development investment, fixed asset investment expanded by 3.0 percent, the NBS said.

A spokesperson for the NBS said that, since the beginning of this year, global economic growth has been lackluster, as trade protectionism in the world has run rampant, and issues such as geopolitical conflicts and international trade frictions have frequently propped up. The adverse impacts from changes in the external environment have intensified, while domestic effective demand remains insufficient, and some enterprises face operational difficulties, posing challenges to sustaining stable economic performance. 

Under these circumstances, China achieved a 5.2-percent economic growth rate, fully demonstrating Chinese economy's capability to adapt and break through challenges in an unstable and uncertain global environment, as well as the economy's strong resilience despite external pressure, the spokesperson noted.

From a global perspective, the 5.2-percent growth rate ranks among the highest among all major economies, making China the most stable and reliable driver of global economic growth. The long-term stable development of the Chinese economy is underpinned by profound internal logic, resulting from the synergistic interplay and systemic integration of multiple factors, including institutional advantages, supply-side strengths, demand-side potential, and talent advantages, which combine to form a powerful combined force, the spokesperson said.

Despite the complex external environment and the numerous pressures facing the economic development, the pattern of "stability," the momentum of "progress," and the characteristic of "resilience" in Chinese economy will remain unchanged, with solid support for keeping up a steady and progressive growth trend, the spokesperson said. 

The Chinese economy is like "a vast ocean, not a small pond, capable of withstanding storms and even tempests," said the spokesperson.

"While fully acknowledging these achievements, we must also recognize that external uncertainties and instabilities remain significant, global trade and economic growth face major challenges, domestic structural contradictions in some areas are still evident, and some enterprises continue to encounter operational difficulties. In the next stage, it is essential to persistently expand domestic demand and strengthen the domestic economic cycle, further stimulate market vitality, boost development expectations, and continuously enhance endogenous growth momentum to promote healthy economic development," the spokesperson noted.

Global Times