Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, grew by 5.5 percent year-on-year in September, up from the 4.6 percent growth in August.

In the first three quarters, retail sales rose by 6.8 percent compared to the same period last year, while in the first half of the year, they grew by 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

In the January-September period, fixed-asset investment - a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment - grew by 3.1 percent compared with a year earlier, while, in the January-August period, it jumped 3.2 percent year-on-year.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5 percent in September from 5.2 percent in August, according to the NBS.

Despite the steady recovery, the NBS warned of pressures from a grimmer and more complicated external environment as well as insufficient demand, saying more efforts should be made to consolidate the foundation for the economic rebound.