The Chinese government on October 22 announced that its third-quarter economic growth accelerated to 8.9 percent.

The 8.9 percent growth revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was the fastest quarterly expansion in a year. It followed 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first three months, which was the slowest in more than a decade.

The bureau said China's gross domestic product grew 7.7 percent in the first nine months of 2009 compared with the same period a year ago, reaching nearly 22 trillion yuan (over 3 trillion USD).

China's urban fixed asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure and a key driver of the recovery, rose 33.3 percent in the first nine months and industrial output expanded by 8.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the nation's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, fell 1.1 percent in the first nine months compared to the same period last year, the bureau said.

NBS spokesman Li Xiaochao said the Chinese government has launched a series of policies to cope with the global financial crisis, including a stimulus package worth 4 trillion yuan (590 billion USD).

He affirmed that China can achieve the full year target of 8.8 percent./.