Tourists visit a traditional scenic area in Yuzhong District in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 10, 2023. Chongqing has launched a variety of activities at nighttime to boost night economy since the beginning of this year. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's economic performance showed a steady recovery in the first two months of 2023, with production and demand improving significantly, boosting national confidence that a roughly 5 percent GDP growth rate target for the whole year remains achievable, official data showed on Wednesday.

In January and February, the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 2.4 percent year-on-year, or 1.1 percentage points faster than that of December 2022, reflecting the accelerated recovery of industrial production and improved business expectations, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In particular the production of solar cells and new-energy vehicles grew by 40.8 percent year-on-year and 16.3 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In the first two months, the total retail sales of consumer goods reached 7.71 trillion yuan ($1.12 trillion), up by 3.5 percent year-on-year, reversing a downward trend in December, according to the NBS. Online retail sales of consumer goods were 2,054.4 billion yuan, up by 6.2 percent year-on-year.

During the period, the country's fixed-asset grew steadily by 5.5 percent year-on-year to reach 5.36 trillion yuan, according to the NBS. Specifically, investment in high-tech industries grew by 15.1 percent, of which the investment in high-tech manufacturing and high-tech services grew by 16.2 percent and 12.3 percent respectively.

While vibrancy and confidence returned to the market with production and demand improving notably, and the economy set a course toward a steady recovery, the external environment remains complex, weak demand remains a concern and the foundation for economic recovery is not solid yet, according to the NBS.

The bureau vowed to boost the market confidence, advance the overall improvement of the economic performance and endeavor to achieve effective enhancement of quality and reasonable growth of quantity.

During the recently concluded Two Sessions, senior officials set the target for the country's GDP growth at around 5 percent in 2023.

The 5 percent growth target was announced after comprehensive consideration of all factors, and is also conducive to guiding strategic adjustment, improving development quality, and in line with China's development reality and demands, Fu Linghui, a spokesperson for the NBS, said at a press briefing on Wednesday.

Fu said that the around 5 percent GDP growth target is indeed challenging, both due to a complicated external environment, downward pressure on global economy, as well as still recovering firms and industries after several years of the epidemic and some domestic structural issues within the economy.

"But we are also more than confident in achieving that," he said.