China’s economy grew at its slowest pace since 1990 last year but stayed within range of the government’s target, as growth in services such as finance and healthcare cushioned a slowdown in manufacturing and construction.
Inflation-adjusted fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth of 6.8 per cent puts the full-year figure at 6.9 per cent, broadly in line with Beijing’s target of “around 7 per cent” for the year. The fourth-quarter figures were in line with economists’ expectations, with a Reuters poll ahead of the numbers also forecasting 6.8 per cent growth.
The data come as fears about the state of China’s economy have shaken global markets and capital is leaving the country at an unprecedented pace. Investors are eager for clues about whether sharp declines in China’s equity market and currency depreciation in the opening weeks of this year are a sign that the real economy is in acute distress, or whether policymakers can engineer a gradual slowdown that avoids financial crisis and social instability.