China's economy expanded more than 7 percent in the first nine months of the year and will certainly surpass the 2009 growth target of 8 percent, a top economic official said Monday.

China is due to release official third quarter economic data on Thursday. But in a briefing Monday in Beijing, Xiong Bilin, a top economic planner, told reporters the growth rate for January-September would be a bit above 7 percent.

"Achieving a growth rate of 8 percent for the year is basically no problem," Xiong, a deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters.