China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.6 percent in 2018 to over 90 trillion yuan (13.7 trillion U.S. dollars), beating the official target of around 6.5 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

The rate compared with last year's 6.8 percent growth and is the slowest in nearly three decades.

However, Ning Jizhe, Director of the NBS said at a press briefing on China's economic performance for the year that although the world's second-largest economy is facing increased downward pressure, the country's economy is sustaining the momentum of progress. 

China's economy has performed within a reasonable range in 2018, with economic growth being generally stable and improvement achieved in performance, he said.

Contributing to nearly 30 percent of the world's economic growth, the country's economy has remained the largest contributor to global economic growth, he said. 

Consumption remained the major growth driver, contributing 76.2 percent to GDP growth last year. Ning said the role of consumption will be further enhanced in 2019.

And despite ongoing trade tensions with the U.S., China's trade volume remained on the upswing in 2018. Exports were up over seven percent, and imports rose nearly 13 percent.

"Trade volume set a new record by topping 30 trillion yuan for the first time. The total imports and exports achieved that set goal of stable and positive development, with increased volume and optimized structure. "

Despite the growth, there are concerns over the changes amid the stable economic performance, with the external environment getting complicated and downward pressure becoming intensified, according to Ning. 

He said China will continue its efforts to advancing reforms and guarding against risk, in order to realize stable, resilient, and inclusive growth.

During the press conference, several key indicators of China's economic performance in 2018 were also released:

Industrial output expands 6.2 percent in 2018

The country's industrial output expanded 6.2 percent year on year in 2018, slowing from 6.6 percent growth in 2017, the NBS data show.

The industrial structure continued to improve last year, with production in high-tech industries, strategic emerging industries and equipment manufacturing sector expanding by 11.7 percent, 8.9 percent and 8.1 percent, respectively.

Output of railway passenger cars saw a surge of 183 percent year on year in 2018, while new energy vehicles jumped by 40.1 percent, NBS data showed.

Fixed asset investment up 5.9 percent in 2018

Fixed-asset investment (FAI) grew 5.9 percent year on year in 2018, 0.5 percentage points faster than that recorded in the first three quarters.

FAI amounted to 63.56 trillion yuan (9.38 trillion U.S. dollars) last year, according to the NBS.

Private investment, accounting for about 62 percent of the total, posted a vigorous 8.7-percent increase, picking up pace from 6 percent growth in 2017.

In another bright spot, investment in high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors remained strong, up by 16.1 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively.

Investment in primary industry gained 12.9 percent last year, quickening from 11.8-percent growth in 2017, while that in the secondary industry went up by 6.2 percent, up significantly from the 3.2-percent rise a year ago. In the tertiary industry, the expansion was  5.5 percent.

Retail sales up 9 percent in 2018

China's retail sales of consumer goods, a main gauge of consumption, grew nine percent year-on-year in 2018 to reach 38.10 trillion yuan (about 5.61 trillion U.S. dollars).

Retail sales in December increased by 8.2 percent, 0.1 percent higher than November's, ending two consecutive months of decline,

In a breakdown of retail sales, the catering sector reported a 9.5 percent year-on-year rise in revenue, while sales of other consumer products increased by 8.9 percent.

Sales in rural areas increased 10.1 percent year-on-year in 2018, continuing to outpace growth in urban regions, where sales rose 8.8 percent to 32.56 trillion yuan (4.78 trillion U.S. dollars), according to the NBS.

Online retail sales in 2018 hit 9.01 trillion yuan (1.33 trillion U.S. dollars), 23.9 percent higher than that in 2017. 

Online spending of physical goods topped seven trillion yuan, accounting for 18.4 percent of total retail sales and online spending on food, clothing as well as necessities surged 33.8 percent, 22.0 percent and 25.9 percent respectively.

(CGTN's Zou Yun contributed to the story.)