China's economy expands 6.9 pct in 2017, beats forecasts

Technicians work on an unmanned aerial vehicle, north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 26, 2017. China's economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in 2017, well above the official target of around 6.5 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday. Gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 82.71 trillion yuan (about 12.84 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2017, with the service sector accounting for more than half of the total. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)