BEIJING -- China's GDP growth slowed to 9.1 percent in the third quarter of the year from 9.5 percent in the second quarter and 9.7 percent in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.

The country's economy expanded 2.3 percent in the July-September period on a quarterly basis, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said at a press conference.

According to preliminary statistics, the country's GDP reached 32.07 trillion yuan ($5.01 trillion) in the first nine months, up 9.4 percent year-on-year, Sheng said.

He noted the country's economic performance was "generally good" and had developed according to the macro-economic regulation in the first nine months.

Fixed asset investment up 24.9%

The fixed asset investment rose 24.9 percent year-on-year to 21.23 trillion yuan ($3.33 trillion) in the first nine months of the year, the NBS said.

The growth rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than that during the first six months, said the NBS .

Investment in the nation's property sector rose 32 percent year-on-year to reach 4.42 trillion yuan, of which 3.18 trillion yuan went into residential housing, an increase of 35.2 percent from the same period last year.

Retail sales up 17% in Q1-Q3

The retail sales grew 17 percent to 13.0811 trillion yuan ($2.05 trillion) in the first nine months from a year earlier, said the NBS.

In September, the country's retail sales grew 17.7 percent from a year earlier and were up 1.35 percent from August.

Urban retail sales increased 17.1 percent year-on-year to 11.33 trillion yuan in the first nine months, while rural retail sales climbed 16.4 percent to 1.75 trillion yuan, the NBS said.

The catering sector generated sales of 1.47 trillion yuan, a rise of 16.5 percent from a year earlier, while commodities retail sales increased 17 percent to 11.61 trillion yuan.

Auto sales grew by 16 percent during the first three quarters, down 18.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

The government slashed its car purchase tax for small-engine vehicles from 10 percent to 5 percent in 2009. It raised the lowered tax to 7.5 percent in 2010, and then put it back at the normal rate at the start of this year.

Sales of furniture jumped 31.4 percent during the same period, down 7 percentage points from a year earlier, while sales of home appliances and audiovisual equipment climbed 20.5 percent, down 7.6 percentage points from a year earlier, the NBS said.

Industrial value-added output up 13.8% in Sept

The industrial value-added output grew 13.8 percent year-on-year in September, the NBS) said.

The figure was higher than the 13.5 percent annual growth in August.

On a monthly basis, the output increased 1.2 percent from that of August, said the NBS.

In the first three quarters, industrial value-added output increased 14.2 percent year-on-year, down 0.1 percentage point from the first half of this year, said Sheng.

Industrial value-added output measures the final output value of industrial production, or the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate input, such as raw materials and labor