The world's second largest economy expanded 4.9% in the July-to-September quarter compared to a year ago, according to government statistics released Monday.

The pace was quicker than the 3.2% increase that China recorded in the second quarter, when it managed to avoid the pandemic-fueled recession that has gripped much of the globe.

"What's more, the monthly data show that growth was still accelerating heading into Q4," Evans-Pritchard added.

Industrial production grew 5.8% in the third quarter from a year ago, according to Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman for China's National Bureau of Statistics.

The service sector also expanded at a faster pace, up 4.3% this quarter compared with 1.9% in the April-to-June period.

The service sector had been lagging behind other industries earlier this year as partial lockdowns and social distancing policies remained in place, noted Chaoping Zhu, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management.