(From Reuters)
China’s economy grew 6.9% in 2015, the slowest pace in a quarter century.
The official figures released on Tuesday (Jan 19) confirm a loss of momentum in the world’s second-largest economy that is rippling around the world and spooking global financial markets.
The annual growth figure was slightly below the government’s target of around 7% but matched economists’ forecasts.
The economy grew 6.8% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, matching expectations and the slowest since the global financial crisis, putting pressure on Beijing to roll out more support measures as fears of a sharper slowdown panic investors.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted Oct-Dec gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 6.8%, easing from 6.9% in the third quarter. It is the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009, when growth tumbled to 6.2%.