Steady progress of China’s economy adds precious certainty to world

By He Yin, People’s Daily
On Oct. 20, China’s National Bureau of Statistics released data on the country’s economic performance for the first three quarters of 2025.
The figures indicate China’s GDP grew by 5.2 percent year on year, 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points higher than the growth rates for the whole of last year and the same period last year, respectively, laying a solid foundation for achieving the year’s main targets.
At a time when global growth momentum remains weak and uncertainty is mounting, China’s steady and sustained economic performance has become a valuable source of certainty for the world economy.
With a growth rate of 5.2 percent, China remains among the top performers among major economies and continues to serve as one of the most stable and reliable engines of global economic growth.
Despite mounting external pressures and internal challenges, China’s economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience: maintaining overall stability while achieving structural improvements in key sectors.
China’s total imports and exports of goods rose by 4 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, underscoring strong resilience. As Reuters noted, this reflects China’s progress in diversifying both its export markets and product portfolio.
Amid headwinds against globalization, China’s emerging trade drivers continue to grow, market diversification advances steadily, and exports increasingly shift toward higher-value, technologically sophisticated goods. These developments contribute significantly to stabilizing global industrial and supply chains.
This economic stability stems from China’s disciplined focus on domestic priorities, leveraging high-quality development strategies to navigate global uncertainties.
Proactive and targeted macro policies have boosted consumption, upgraded industries, fostered new growth drivers, and kept economic circulation smooth while advancing high-standard opening up. These efforts have not only stabilized the economic fundamentals in the short term but also built momentum for long-term growth.
Notably, final consumption expenditure accounted for 53.5% of China’s GDP growth during this period, confirming its role as the economy’s primary driver.
The continued effects of major policies to strengthen the economy and foster new drivers, including those aligned with major national strategies, building up security capacity in key areas, as well as the large-scale renewal of equipment and the trade-in of consumer goods, have extended to the production side, stimulating sectors such as equipment and consumer goods manufacturing, and promoting green manufacturing and digital technology upgrades.
Efforts to build a unified national market have accelerated cross-regional flow of goods, talent, and capital, enhancing supply chain efficiency. With ample policy space, diverse tools, and well-prepared reserves, China has the capacity to ensure steady and sound economic performance.
At the recent 138th edition of the China Import and Export Fair, or the Canton Fair, booths showcasing robotics, smart manufacturing, and other high-tech products drew long lines of international visitors. As the integration of science, technology, and industry continues to deepen, more innovations are moving from laboratories to production lines, turning innovation potential into real economic momentum.
China is developing new quality productivity adapted to local conditions, optimizing economic structures, and facilitating orderly transitions between traditional and emerging growth drivers.
Traditional industries are embracing digital transformation through internet, AI, and digital technologies, accelerating equipment renewal and technological upgrades to gain new dynamism.
Wind and solar power generation recorded double-digit growth during the reporting period. Production of new energy vehicles surged 29.7% year-on-year, while automotive lithium-ion battery output increased 46.9 percent, making China’s economic growth greener.
As the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) concludes, China’s economy has surpassed milestones of 110 trillion ($15.44 trillion), 120 trillion, and 130 trillion yuan, contributing around 30 percent of global growth annually. This makes China one of the world’s most important drivers of economic progress.
Despite profound changes unseen in a century, China has maintained overall economic stability, strengthened development foundations, and achieved new milestones in economic and social progress, laying a more solid groundwork and building greater confidence for the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
Amid global uncertainties, the fundamentals underpinning China’s economic stability, growth momentum, and resilience remain unchanged. Going forward, by giving full play to policy effectiveness, advancing high-quality development, and accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, China has both the confidence and the capability to sustain steady growth, and will continue to provide strong support for global economic recovery and development.