China's economy expanded by 11.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2010, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The growth was 3.7 percentage points higher compared with the same period last year, when China was still wrestling with the global financial crisis.

China's economy increased 10.3 percent year on year in the second quarter, lower than the 11.9-percent growth in the first.

According to preliminary statistics, China's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 17.28 trillion yuan (US$2.55 trillion) in the first six months of this year, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun told a press conference.

"China's economy performed generally well in the first half and has developed according to the government's macro regulation," Sheng said.

The government set the annual economic growth target at around 8 percent for 2010.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2010)