CHINA: SLOWEST PACE IN 13 YEARS

CHINA'S GROWTH DROPS TO SLOWEST PACE IN 13 YEARS

Fran Wang (AFP)

The China Post, January 19, 2013

BEIJING -- China's economy grew at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, the government said Friday, but an uptick in the final quarter pointed to better news ahead for a prime driver of the tepid global recovery.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's second-largest economy expanded 7.8 percent last year in the face of weakness at home and in key overseas markets, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced.

But it grew 7.9 percent in the final three months of 2012 as industrial production and retail sales growth strengthened at the end of the year, snapping seven straight quarters of slowing growth in a positive sign for the spluttering world economy.

The official statistics come as optimism grows among analysts that China will pick up steam in 2013 after two years of relative weakness, although they — and the government — caution that the improvement will not be dramatic.

“The international economic environment remains complicated this year and ... there are still unbalanced conflicts in the Chinese economy,” NBS chief Ma Jiantang told reporters.

Still, Ma added: “We expect China's economy to continue to grow in a stable manner in 2013.”

Chinese stocks rose on the figures, with the Shanghai Composite Index closing up 1.41 percent.

The slowdown in annual growth was the second in a row and marked its lowest point since 1999, when it stood at 7.6 percent, according to official statistics.

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