China’s leaders – who targeted growth of “about seven percent” – are looking to transform the economy away from the investment and exports of the past to one more oriented towards domestic consumer demand.
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Nevetheless the unexpectedly sharp decline over the past two years prompted fears of a politically unsafe spike in job losses.
New housing starts declined 14 percent as developers were still selling off bloated inventories of unsold homes, though inventory floor area was still 15.6 percent higher than a year earlier, but down from 16.5 percent in November.
Full-year growth of 6.9 per cent, enviable by Western standards, was China’s poorest showing in a quarter of a century. Official data released by Beijing showed the growth rate for the fourth quarter of 2015 was 6.8%.
Industrial production grew at a weaker pace of 5.9 percent year-over-year in December following November’s 6.2 percent rise.
October-December quarter-on-quarter growth was 1.6 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.
Playing down the concerns over the slowdown, the NBS said China’s economy still “ran within a reasonable range” in 2015, with its structure further optimised, upgrading accelerated, new growth drivers strengthened and people’s lives improved.
Beijing has been on a drive to revive growth, cutting interest rates five times previous year and allowing the currency to weaken against the dollar.
Online retail sales of goods surged 31.6 percent in 2015, well above the total retail sale growth, he told reporters.
Analysts point to a multitude of reasons: a weaker external environment that caused Chinese exports to drop past year and a limping property market, a key source of revenue for the government.
Most Asian share markets slightly trimmed gains after the data while China’s stock indices also gave up modest opening gains.
“Meanwhile, though, consumption continued to expand robustly, supported by solid wage growth”. We’ve known for the last three years that the Chinese authorities are slowing down the economy. On a quarterly basis, the Chinese economic growth eased to 1.6%.
After years of torrid expansion, the world’s second-largest economy is now decelerating. For a lot of companies, what matters for them are the nominal figures amid deep industrial deflation and that’s why many market players think the official figures are better than how things really are.
Global financial markets were rattled by a plunge in Chinese stock prices in June.
When comparing numbers, many analysts consider what is happening in China “a slowdown” in its economic growth rather than a “meltdown”.
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Zhao Yang of Nomura reiterated the bank’s 5.8 percent forecast for 2016 due to “strong headwinds” and overcapacity in manufacturing, along with an excess supply of property. Retail sales grew 10.7 per cent, significantly below the 12 per cent recorded in 2014.
