China's third quarter GDP slows to 6.8 percent

TOKYO, Oct 19 (KUNA) -- China's economy grew 6.8 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, China National Bureau of Statistics said on its website Thursday.
The growth of gross domestic product (GDP) of the world's No. 2 economy in the July-September period was down from the 6.9-percent growth in the second quarter, the country's Statistics bureau noted.
But the figure keeps China on track to achieve the government-set 2017 growth target of around 6.5 percent.
For the first nine months of this year, the GDP grew 6.9 percent on the year, unchanged from the first half.
"The Chinese economy has maintained steady growth with a positive outlook in the first three quarters," bureau spokesman Zhihong told a press conference in Beijing, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.
"Improvements have been made in both economic structure and growth quality, and new growth engines are gaining steam," Xing said. (end) mk.mb