BEIJING, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The Chinese economy performed more strongly than expected in the first nine months of the year, the State Council, or cabinet, said on Wednesday.
A statement issued after a regular meeting said the economic recovery had been 'consolidated'.
That marks a departure from the language used in recent months by the cabinet, which stressed that the economy was not yet on a solid footing.
With the economy perking up, it was important to attach policy priority to managing inflation expectations in coming months as well as securing stable and quite fast economic growth, the statement said.
China releases third-quarter GDP data on Thursday at 0200 GMT. (Reporting by Zhou Xin and Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Alan Wheatley)