Consumption increase "encouraging", statistics official

A spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday that the 9.7 percent increase of consumption in the first three quarters this year is "encouraging".

The consumption increase was 0.6 percentage point more than that in the same period last year, Zheng Jingping, the spokesman, told a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council.

"We hope a consumption-driven economy," Zheng said, adding that China now has yearly consumption increase ranging between 9-10 percent.

According to economics theories, consumers' behavior would not often change greatly, Zheng said.

"We feel that encouraging to have such an increase in consumption," Zheng said.

Talking about the fixed assets investment, Zheng said, the total investment in the fixed assets from January to September this year was valued at 4.5102 trillion yuan (543.4 billion US dollars), an increase of 27.7 percent compared with the same period of last year.

The decrease of 0.9 percentage point compared with the first half of this year was a result of the country's marco economic control measures, Zheng said.