China's gross domestic product grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter following a 4.7 percent rise in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. 

In the first three quarters, China's GDP grew by 4.8 percent after a 5 percent growth in the first half of the year, the bureau said. 

The NBS said that positive factors promoting the recovery of the economy were accumulated in September, with most of the indicators in production and demand improving while boosting market expectations.

Figures released by the NBS showed China's industrial output, a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors, grew by 5.4 percent in September from a year earlier after a 4.5 percent rise in August. 

In the first three quarters, industrial output grew by 5.8 percent compared to the same period last year, while in the first half of the year, it rose by 6 percent from a year earlier. 

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, grew by 3.2 percent year-on-year in September, up from the 2.1 percent growth in August.

In the first three quarters, retail sales rose by 3.3 percent compared to the same period last year, while in the first half of the year, they grew by 3.7 percent from a year earlier. 

In the January-September period, fixed-asset investment, a gauge of expenditures on various elements, including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment, grew by 3.4 percent compared with a year earlier, the same as the January-August period. 

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.1 percent in September from 5.3 percent in August, according to the NBS. 

Despite the challenges ahead, Zou Yunhan, deputy director of the Macroeconomic Research Office at the State Information Center's Department of Economic Forecasting, said that China's economy will likely pick up in the fourth quarter, propelled by the incremental policy package.

"With the stimulus package taking effect and the continued strengthening of the endogenous driving forces, China will likely achieve the preset annual growth target this year," she said during a recent interview with China Daily.