China's GDP grew 6.1% in 2019, meets official target

Beijing:China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.1 per cent in 2019, meeting the government's growth target of 6-6.5 per cent, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.

However, the figure sits 0.5 percentage points less than the growth posted in 2018 and is the country's weakest growth since 1990, highlighting the slowdown of the Chinese economy, reports Efe news.

In the last quarter of 2019, the Chinese GDP rose 6 per cent year-on-year while in the previous three quarters it had increased by 6.4, 6.2 and 6 per cent, respectively.

China's economy continues to decelerate after beginning to slowdown in 2018 after witnessing, in the previous year, the first acceleration for the economy since 2010.

The Chinese authorities are talking about a change in the country's economic model from one based on manufacturing and rapid growth to one geared towards consumption and high-quality growth.

The annual report published by the NBS on Friday acknowledges the "mounting risks and challenges both at home and abroad" for the Chinese economy in 2019, which was marked by an upsurge in the trade war with US, and amid a global slowdown.

In nominal terms, China's total wealth rose in 2019 to 99.09 trillion yuan ($14.41 trillion), which represents an increase of 7.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, retail sales last year rose 8 per cent while industrial output increased 5.7 per cent and fixed-asset investments grew 5.4 per cent.