China is "confident and still more capable of" achieving long-term stable economic development with plenty of favorable drivers and increasing signs of upswing in recovery this year, said the National Development and Reform Commission and industry experts on Wednesday.

The top economic regulator said in a note that the Chinese economy has overcome difficulties and challenges and withstood downward pressure over the past months. Despite a zigzag path, the economy is advancing.

China remains "the largest engine of global growth", and will contribute to one-third of the world's economic growth this year, it emphasized.

The comments came with discussions intensifying over the economic outlook for the world's second-largest economy, with many economists and industry experts saying they remain upbeat about China's long-term economic outlook.

The NDRC said that the long-term positive fundamentals of the country's economy have not changed and will not change, as the nation's economy is highly resilient, has sufficient potential, and also has wide room for maneuver.

The economic regulator listed several favorable conditions and supporting factors, including China's enormous market demand, a complete industrial system, deepening reform and opening-up, and a flexible space for macroeconomic policy adjustment.

"Thus, the country is confident and more capable of achieving long-term stable development, and continuously bringing new impetus and opportunities to the world through China's accelerated development," the NDRC said.

Li Ruoyu, a researcher at the State Information Center, said the country's economy has continued to recover since the start of this year, with a significantly better-than-expected economic performance in the first quarter.

Though recovery momentum slowed in the second quarter of this year, the authorities concerned have increased efforts to stabilize growth, boost demand and prevent risks in key areas, leading to an improvement in most economic indicators since August, he noted.

"With continued effective policy support, China's GDP growth will steadily pick up in the fourth quarter, and the expected GDP growth target of around 5 percent for the whole year can be successfully achieved," Li predicted.

In the first three quarters of this year, China's GDP grew by 5.2 percent year-on-year, which is better than the United States'2.4 percent and Japan's 1.7 percent.

Song Liyi, a researcher of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said, "The long-term development potential of the country's economy should not be underestimated, as the country's economic development has not only gained momentum in quantitative growth, but also improved qualitatively."

Song noted that the improvement can be seen in the accelerated industrial output growth in high-tech manufacturing and in innovation capabilities in photovoltaics, wind power and new energy vehicles, which have been globally competitive.

In the first three quarters of this year, the collective industrial output of aviation, spacecraft and equipment manufacturing segments of the high-tech manufacturing industries increased by 18.9 percent year-on-year, higher than the overall industrial growth.

The NDRC also emphasized in its note that the country's private sector generally showed an improvement and "private enterprises are playing an increasingly important role in driving economic recovery".

The commission highlighted private companies' contribution to foreign trade in the first 10 months of this year, as the import and export volume of private enterprises grew by 6.2 percent during the period.

Meanwhile, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the country's market regulator, said that more than 7.06 million private enterprises were newly established in the first three quarters in China, up 15.3 percent year-on-year.

Among them, more than 3 million are focused on the "new economy", and those related to new energy saw the biggest growth in terms of numbers for the first three quarters.