China economy continues steady recovery

China's economy sustained steady recovery in October, with manufacturing, service industry and investment continuing to grow and market demand improving, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 6.9 percent year on year in October, or up by 0.78 percent compared to the previous month, NBS said. The index service production grew by 7.4 percent year on year, up by 2.0 percent from September.

"The steady recovery of the economy has maintained and the scope of the economic growth is expanding," said Fu Linghui, Spokesperson of NBS.

Retail sales gained 4.3% over a year ago, up 1 percentage point from the previous month. The total retail sales of consumer goods in the first ten months was down by 5.9 percent year on year, but the decline narrowed 1.3 percent in October. "Previously the growth was obviously driven by investment, but from the data of October we can see that consumption has followed up with recovery, which will be very helpful for the sustainable growth of the economy," Fu said.

Despite improvements, Fu said multiple challenges remained for the Chinese economy, citing sluggish world recovery amid the global spread of the COVID-19. "All these have cast shadow on the global economic recovery. Domestically, our economy is still in the middle of recovery," Fu said. 

(Image Credits: AP)