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 assets investment up 24.9 percent in first nine months

China's 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.

Retail sales up 17 percent in first nine months

China's retail sales grew 17 percent to 13.0811 trillion yuan ($2.05 trillion) in the first nine months from a year earlier.

Industrial value-added output up 13.8 percent in Sept

China's industrial value-added output grew 13.8 percent year-on-year in September. The figure was higher than the 13.5 percent annual growth in August.

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.