AFP, Beijing :
China’s economy grew at its weakest for almost a quarter of a century in 2014, official data showed Tuesday, with authorities describing slower expansion as the “new normal” and analysts tipping further deceleration this year.
The 7.4 percent announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was slower than the 7.7 percent seen in 2013, but exceeded the median forecast of 7.3 percent in an AFP survey of 15 economists.
Growth in the world’s second-largest economy during the final quarter came in at 7.3 percent year-on-year, the NBS said, matching the previous three months and beating the 7.2 percent median forecast in the AFP survey.
“China’s economy has achieved stable progress with improved quality under the new normal in 2014,” NBS chief Ma Jiantang told reporters.
“However we should also be aware that the domestic and international situations are still complicated and economic development is facing difficulties and challenges.”
The full-year result, the worst since 3.8 percent recorded in 1990, comes after one of the pillars of the global economy was hit by manufacturing and trade weakness as well as declining prices for real estate, which has hammered the key property sector.
Beijing had set an official target of “about” 7.5 percent for last year. The goal is traditionally pegged at a level that is easily achieved, and is usually approximated to provide room for positive spin just in case it is missed. The 2014 result is the first miss since 1998, during the Asian economic crisis.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.50 percent in afternoon trade.
Economists were largely upbeat on the results, but said they did not alter the outlook for further slowing this year.
“The 2014 GDP result is better than market expectations and barely missed the target,” ANZ economist Liu Li-Gang told AFP. “This result is not too bad.”
Nomura economists expect GDP to trend lower following the “short respite” at the end of last year “given deep-rooted domestic challenges such as tighter controls over local government debt, the property market correction and deleveraging”, they said in a note following the figures.
China’s economy grew at its weakest for almost a quarter of a century in 2014, official data showed Tuesday, with authorities describing slower expansion as the “new normal” and analysts tipping further deceleration this year.
The 7.4 percent announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was slower than the 7.7 percent seen in 2013, but exceeded the median forecast of 7.3 percent in an AFP survey of 15 economists.
Growth in the world’s second-largest economy during the final quarter came in at 7.3 percent year-on-year, the NBS said, matching the previous three months and beating the 7.2 percent median forecast in the AFP survey.
“China’s economy has achieved stable progress with improved quality under the new normal in 2014,” NBS chief Ma Jiantang told reporters.
“However we should also be aware that the domestic and international situations are still complicated and economic development is facing difficulties and challenges.”
The full-year result, the worst since 3.8 percent recorded in 1990, comes after one of the pillars of the global economy was hit by manufacturing and trade weakness as well as declining prices for real estate, which has hammered the key property sector.
Beijing had set an official target of “about” 7.5 percent for last year. The goal is traditionally pegged at a level that is easily achieved, and is usually approximated to provide room for positive spin just in case it is missed. The 2014 result is the first miss since 1998, during the Asian economic crisis.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.50 percent in afternoon trade.
Economists were largely upbeat on the results, but said they did not alter the outlook for further slowing this year.
“The 2014 GDP result is better than market expectations and barely missed the target,” ANZ economist Liu Li-Gang told AFP. “This result is not too bad.”
Nomura economists expect GDP to trend lower following the “short respite” at the end of last year “given deep-rooted domestic challenges such as tighter controls over local government debt, the property market correction and deleveraging”, they said in a note following the figures.
