Consumption accounted for 78 percent of China's GDP growth during the first three quarters, an increase of 14 percentage points over the same period last year, official data shows.

Income grows in pace with GDP growth

China's GDP growth registered at 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, or 6.2 percent after deducting the natural growth of the total population, according to National Bureau of Statistics.

During the same period, the national residents per-capita disposable income stood at 21,035 yuan ($3,000), a nominal growth of 8.8 percent year-on-year, or an actual increase of 6.6 percent after deducting price factors, which kept the same pace as that of GDP growth.

Shanghai saw the highest per-capita disposable income of 48,339 yuan, a nominal increase of 9 percent or an actual increase of 7.4 percent. Beijing took the second place with 46,426 yuan, up 8.9 percent in nominal terms or 6.2 percent in real terms.

The per-capita wage income of residents increased by 8.8 percent, the same compared with a year earlier. The per-capita net operating income raised by 7 percent, up 1 percentage point year-on-year, thanks to China's reforms to create a better business environment and a further tax reduction.

The per capita net income from property increased by 10.6 percent, which was mainly due to a rapid increase from the net rental income by transferring the right to land contractual management as well as the income of rental housing.

Household consumption expenditure grows steadily

In the first three quarters, Chinese residents' per capita consumption stood at 14,281 yuan, a nominal increase of 8.5 percent or an actual increase of 6.3 percent year-on-year, up 1 and 0.4 percentage points respectively compared with a year earlier.

Shanghai's per-capita consumption expenditure hit 31,909 yuan, the highest and the only one to exceed 30,000 yuan in the country.

The nation's rural residents saw a faster growth in per capita consumption expenditure than urban residents, with a growth of 12 percent to 8,538 yuan, while the per capita consumption expenditure of urban residents was 19,014 yuan, an increase of 6.5 percent.

For the consumer goods markets, China's retail sales in this sector rose 9.3 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, the same level as that of the first 8 months, official data shows.

Consumption upgrade is irreversible

China's consumer goods market continues to be optimized in the first 9 months. Communication equipments that relate to consumption upgrades saw an increase of 10.7 percent year-on-year, and sales of cosmetics increased by 12 percent from a year earlier.

Online shopping users and online retail continue to grow thanks to a broader access of mobile internet. In the first three quarters, the online retail sales in East China's Zhejiang province increased by 23.8 percent, and its local residents online consumption reached 555.1 billion yuan, up 25.3 percent. The online retail sales by wholesale and retail businesses above designated size in East China's Fujian province saw a year-on-year increase of 22.4 percent.

Service consumption also maintained a strong momentum. Tourism revenue in East China's Jiangxi province, North China's Shanxi province and Inner Mongolia autonomous region saw an increase of 26.8 percent, 25.7 percent and 17 percent, respectively.

The consumption transformation and upgrading will continue, and the consumer market is expected to maintain a steady and rapid growth, said Ling Tao, head of the Trade and Foreign Economic Statistics Department of the National Bureau of Statistics.