Chinese economic growth hits three-decade low

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Beijing, Jan 17 (AFP/APP): China’s economy grew last year at its slowest pace in three decades, hit by weak domestic demand and trade tensions, but while officials warned of further headwinds, separate figures Friday suggest the downward trend is bottoming out.

The 6.1 percent rate is a sharp drop from the 6.6 percent the year before and marks the third straight drop, though it met the government’s target and analysts said leaders were unlikely to open up the stimulus taps just yet.

The reading was also in line with AFP analyst forecasts.

And while the world’s number two economy had been gradually losing steam over the first three quarters, growth held steady at 6.0 percent in October-December — the same as the previous quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Ning Jizhe, commissioner of the NBS, said momentum remained generally stable through the year and said the same could be expected in 2020.

“However, we should also be aware that the global economic and trade growth is slowing down,” he said at a news conference, adding that there were more sources of instability and risk, with the economy facing “mounting downward pressure”.

The figures were released days after Vice Premier Liu He and Donald Trump signed a much-vaunted “phase one” pact that marks a truce in their nearly two-year-old trade war.

The agreement will see the US slash import duties on Chinese goods worth billions of dollars, though levies remain in place on two-thirds of more than $500 billion of products.

US, China set to sign vital trade truce

 

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