The figures follow the twice-a-decade Communist Party meetings, where president Xi Jinping said in a three-hour speech yesterday that China would “double its 2010 gross domestic product” by 2020.  This roughly dictated a 6.5% annual growth.

The rate is slightly slower than the previous quarter, which saw a 6.9% growth in the first and second quarter.

The country’s latest GDP figures are still above the annual growth target of 6.5% and met the forecasts.

The president also said at the meetings the country would work on economic and financial reforms and further the availability of its markets to foreign investors.

He said: “China’s economy has been transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to a state of high-quality development.”

Since the global economic crisis, the China’s growth has slowed from an average of 10% a year in the previous three decades to 6.7% last year.

The IMF raised its growth forecast for China to 6.7% in June, raising it by 0.1% from its April prediction.