China's economy grows in October, with manufacturing and retail accelerating

China witnessed a stable momentum of growth in October, with retail and manufacturing sectors experiencing accelerated growth, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

Retail sales of consumer goods generated 4.54 trillion yuan ($649 billion) in October, growing 4.8 percent year on year, a 1.6-percentage-point increase from September. In particular, sales of household appliances, driven by proactive upgrade and trade-in programs, rose 39.2 percent. 

Meanwhile, the country's foreign trade reached 3.7 trillion yuan in October, up 4.6 percent year on year, with mechanical and electrical products accounting for 59.4 percent of the total exports and growing by 8.5 percent.

In the first 10 months of the year, fixed assets investment grew by 3.4 percent year on year, supported by fast growth in high-tech industries. Investment in high-tech industries grew by 9.3 percent year on year, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 8.8 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.

Urban surveyed unemployment was down 0.1 percentage point from the previous month, coming in at 5.0 percent. 

October also witnessed continued changes in the real estate market, with banking institutions and municipal governments making policy adjustments aimed at energizing the market. Sales prices for new commercial housing in first-tier cities of Shanghai and Shenzhen rose by 0.3 and 0.1 percentage point month-on-month, respectively.

As the decline in average residential sales prices in 70 of China’s medium and large-sized cities narrows, the real estate market is expected to improve further, especially in the next 12-18 months, Bruce Pang, chief economist at JLL Greater China, told CGTN.