BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy maintained its steady and improving trend in October, with new growth drivers gaining momentum, official high-frequency data on consumption, trade and investment showed Friday.
Big data on offline consumption showed that consumption-related payments increased 2.6 percent year on year in October, according to the State Information Center under the National Development and Reform Commission.
Benefits from various consumption-boosting policies continued to materialize, supporting the consumer market's steady growth, according to Geng Dewei, an associate researcher at the center's big data development department.
"Service consumption in clothing, food, housing, transportation and tourism has improved simultaneously, and diverse consumption scenarios have been continuously activated," Geng said.
The data also showed that the departure deadweight tonnage of cargo ships at major Chinese ports increased 59.1 percent year on year in October, with the growth rate 5.9 percentage points higher than that in September.
On the investment front, the contract value of winning bids for new infrastructure projects related to computing power and data increased 45.4 percent year on year, while capital investment in frontier fields such as artificial intelligence and humanoid robots soared 307.4 percent.
Geng said the effects of policies to stabilize investment are gradually emerging, with allocated funds being translated into physical progress and the investment structure being optimized.
A State Council executive meeting held last week urged faster progress on the construction and implementation of major projects and the country's "six networks" of infrastructure, covering water, power, computing, communications, urban underground pipelines and logistics networks.
It called for strengthening confidence and stepping up policy implementation to ensure China meets its major economic and social development targets for the year.
China has targeted 2026 growth at 4.5 to 5 percent and will strive for even better results in practice. China's gross domestic product grew 4.5 percent year on year in the third quarter of 2026, higher than the second quarter's reading of 4.3 percent. ■
