Mubasher: China’s industrial output was stable during the period between January and September on the back of strong high-end manufacturing and higher profits from corporates.

Industrial value-added output reached 6.7% in the first nine months of 2017, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday, while September alone saw industrial output at 6.6%.

Growth was seen as faster than the 6% gain marked in the same period of 2016, but flat with that of the first eight months of the year.

“Released along with a string of other major economic data, the indicator measures the activity of designated large enterprises with annual turnover of at least CNY 20 million (around $3 million), Xinhua reported.

Earlier on Thursday, China said its economy grew by 6.8% in the third quarter of 2017, marking a slight slowdown from the second quarter of the year, meeting forecasts.

“The world's second-largest economy is trying to rein in debt and contain a housing bubble without hurting growth,” according to the BBC.

The Chinese government’s efforts are forecast to have impacted economic activity in several parts of the country. Despite that, growth was backed by a higher-than-expected rise in trade and bank lending.

China logged a 6.9% growth in the first and second quarters of 2017, previous data showed.

"A less supportive fiscal policy stance and slower credit growth should result in a slowdown over the coming months," Capital Economics China economist Julian Evans-Pritchard told the BBC.