ZAGREB, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's economy expanded 4.8 percent year on year in the third quarter, demonstrating its stable growth trend, Ljubo Jurcic, Croatian economist and former minister of economy, said on Monday, calling the data remarkable.

Jurcic told Xinhua he remains optimistic about the Chinese economy, expecting the growth momentum to continue. "I expected such results, and they will continue to move around these figures in the future," he said.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the country's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.2 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2025, reaching over 101.5 trillion yuan (about 14.3 trillion U.S. dollars), as positive factors accumulated despite global headwinds.

Jurcic said steady growth has also shown that the Chinese economy is sufficiently resilient to unfavourable factors, such as tariffs and trade protectionism. In contrast to some earlier estimates that such challenges would destroy the Chinese economy, he emphasized that "Chinese economic growth is stable and satisfactory."

Noting that the economic growth rate of 4.8 percent is remarkable, Jurcic attributed the performance to China's economic transformation. He said China's economy has been increasingly focusing on high-quality development by the advancement of high-tech and green industries, and this shift has provided momentum and potential for sustained and stable growth.

The Croatian economist described China as "an indispensable engine of the world economy." "Without China, further economic growth in the world is unthinkable," he added.