China’s economy grew by 4.9% year-on-year in the third quarter of the year, versus 3.2% in the second one, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. The country’s GDP growth reached 0.7% year-on-year over the first three quarters of this year, turning positive from a negative 1.6% in the first half, the NBS said. The Chinese economy posted a continuous recovery in the first nine months and achieved significant results in coordinating development with epidemic prevention, the NBS said in a statement. The growth in fixed-asset investment (FAI) came in at 0.8% during the January-September period, turning positive for the first time this year and compared with a 3.1% slide in the first six months. Retail sales increased by 3.3% year-on-year last month, sharply up from an 0.5% rise in August. The country registered a 6.9% industrial output growth in September, compared with 5.6% in August.

China’s actual use of foreign capital rose again in the first three quarters of the year, both in yuan and dollar terms. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China grew by 5.2% on a yearly basis to CNY718.81 billion between January and September. In dollar terms it increased by 2.5% to USD103.26 billion. China’s early recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, new business models and the growing size of the domestic market will prompt global companies to continue investing in China for long-term success, said Zhang Yongjun, Researcher at the Beijing-based China Center for International Economic Exchanges. FDI in China rose 25.1% on a yearly basis in September to CNY99.03 billion, the sixth consecutive month of growth.

China’s non-financial outbound direct investment in economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative also surged 29.7% on a yearly basis to USD13.02 billion in the first three quarters. Chinese companies’ investment in these markets accounted for 16.5% of its total ODI. The share was up by 4.1 percentage points from the same period last year. China’s ODI structure continued to diversify, with investment mainly flowing into sectors such as leasing and business services, wholesale and retail, as well as petrochemicals and water conservation projects in global markets. China’s ODI fell by 0.6% on a yearly basis to CNY551.51 billion during the first nine months of the year. Chinese companies signed 518 project deals with a contract value of more than USD50 million each in the first three quarters. The total value of these projects reached USD124.88 billion.

Meanwhile, China’s auto market hit a new high for the year in September in terms of both production and sales, and the trend is expected to continue into the fourth quarter, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Sales rose 12.8% in September year-on-year, with 2.57 million vehicles sold during the month－China’s fifth straight month of double-digit sales growth. Sales of passenger vehicles rose 8% year-on-year in September to 2.09 million vehicles. Sales for the first nine months this year are still down 6.9% at a total of 17.12 million vehicles, as the market was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in the beginning of the year. CAAM forecast that the fourth quarter will continue to show positive growth and expects a 7% decline on the whole year, the China Daily reports.