Strong Momentum: China's economy grows by 6.9% in 2017

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China's economy maintained a momentum of stable and sound development in 2017. That's according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. CGTN's Zou Yun reports on some of the key indicators performed, and the outlook for next year.

Upbeat growth for China's economy in 2017.

GDP grew 6.9 percent compared with the previous year, above the annual target of around 6.5 percent. Preliminary estimates show that the GDP exceeded 80 trillion yuan.

The year-on-year growth was 6.9% for the first 2 quarters and 6.8% for the third and fourth.

The head of the National Bureau of Statistics, Ning Jizhe, said the expansion was driven by a slew of factors that includes supply-side reforms, rebound trade and high infrastructure spending.

Unlike previous years, growth in trade became one of the major contributors in 2017. Yet the external environment for import and export this year may not be as favorable. Ning Jizhe responded to CGTN's question about whether a more challenging trade performance will slow growth.

NING JIZHE, DIRECTOR NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS "Last year, exports realized a double-digit increase, yet what's more gratifying is the structure of export has been improved, with more value-added products being exported. We will continue efforts to promote China's competitive advantage and create a win-win environment for all countries."

And the quality of the growth is on the fast track as well. The supply-side structural reform was further pushed forward, with transformation and upgrading achieving a new high. The industries of steel and coal have fulfilled the annual task of cutting overcapacity. And innovation-driven development continued to gain momentum and the new driving forces grew rapidly.

Consumption has emerged as the major driving force for economic growth. And the Chinese economy has been optimizing and undertaking tremendous transactions.

NING JIZHE, DIRECTOR NATIONAL BUREAU OF STATISTICS "Our economy is shifting from solely relying on heavy industry to a joint driving of the heavy and service industries. On the demand side, the driver has been changing on investment to a combination of investment and consumption. Finally, the old way of depending on exports has been switching to export plus import driven."

Ning also says China will continue to advance the supply-side reforms in 2018 with more efforts to upgrade economic quality.

ZOU YUN BEIJING Economic expansion is important, but China also has been paying increasing attention to the quality of growth, with factors such as environmental protection playing a bigger role. Only in this way, can the country's economic growth be more sustainable, inclusive and beneficial to its people. ZY, CGTN, BJ.