Official: economic growth elevates China's strength, influence

Newly released figures are suggesting China's economic growth since the last National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012 has greatly elevated the country's economic strength on the world stage, as well as its international influence.

The data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows China's annual GDP growth rate from 2013 to 2016 stood at 7.2%.

This is compared with the globe growth rate of 2.6%, and a growth rate of 4% in emerging markets during the same period.

NBS chief Ning Jizhe says with the steady economic growth, China's share of global GDP has been on a continual rise.

"In 2016, China's GDP reached 11.2 trillion US dollars, which made up nearly 15% of the world's total, ranking second in the world. Between 2013 and 2016, China also made the largest contribution to global growth, averaging around 30% annually. This would be larger than the US, the euro zone and Japan combined," said Ning.

Meanwhile, Ning Jizhe says an emphasis on keeping unemployment in-check, as well as inflation at a manageable level, has helped ensure China's economy remains in good shape.

"So in terms of growth, employment and prices, the past several years has seen a relatively high average annual economic growth of 7.2%, a comparatively low inflation rate of 2% and comparatively low unemployment rate at around 5 percent. These figures are some of the best in the world," said Ning.

The Chinese government has been lowering its economic growth targets in recent years amid the current economic restructuring, which is designed to rely less on exports and fixed investment, and more on consumer-based growth.

The government's target for this year is around 6.5%.

However, through the first six months, China's GDP rose by 6.9% year on year, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of expansion between 6.7% and 6.9%.

NBS chief Ning Jizhe is predicting this country's economy may perform better than expected by the end of this year.

"In August, the profits of industrial companies with annual revenues of 20 million yuan or more increased over 21% year on year, indicating an improvement in their overall situation. In September, the official PMI came in above 52, which is the highest ranking since 2012, while the non-manufacturing PMI came in above 55, which is also the highest score in more than two years. All the fundamentals of China's economy remain sound. We are confident there won't be any problem fulfilling the 6.5% growth goal for this year, or even achieve a better result," said Ning.

GDP growth figures for the 3rd quarter are due out next week.