© Reuters.
Investing.com– China’s economy grew slightly less than expected in the fourth quarter amid consistent pressure from weak spending and a property market decline, although growth for 2023 managed to just edge past government targets.
grew 5.2% year-on-year in the three months to December 31, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday. The reading was weaker than expectations for growth of 5.3%, but picked up from the 4.9% seen in the prior quarter.
grew 1% quarter-on-quarter, as expected, but slowed from the prior quarter’s reading of 1.3%.
This brought the to 5.2%, slightly above Beijing’s 5% forecast. While growth picked up sharply from the dismal 3% seen in 2022, the stronger figure was also driven by a lower base for comparison, given that country was still grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic until early-2023.
Wednesday’s…
