China's economy ended 2024 on better footing than expected, growing 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, to put the full-year GDP growth at 5 percent.

Boosted by a flurry of stimulus measures, the economy grew at the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2023 in the final quarter of 2024, to help authorities meet their annual growth target of around 5 percent.

“The national economy was generally stable with steady progress and new achievements were made in high-quality development,” a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

“Particularly, with a package of incremental policies being timely rolled out, the social confidence was effectively bolstered and the economy recovered remarkably,” it added.

Reflecting on the nation's growth for 2024, NBS commissioner Kang Yi touched on the challenges at home and overseas.

"The year of 2024 witnessed a complex international environment... and there was a lack of efficient demand, and pains in the shift of growth drivers," he said.

"Despite all that, the Chinese economy withstood pressures, overcame difficulties, making a new contribution to global growth," Kang added.

Commenting on the latest figures, Raymond Yeung, Greater China Chief Economist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), said it was in line with expectations.

However, he noted the troubled property sector remains a concern, despite slight improvements in new domestic home prices, with those in first-tier cities edging up 0.2 percent last month.

"It's still too early to conclude if there is a stablisation in the property market. Of course the property prices in both the first-hand and secondary markets seemed to have improved, but they are still contracting, still in the negative region on a monthly basis," he said, adding that transaction volumes still dropped around 17 percent.

"We really need to see an overall improvement of the property prices, a sustainable improvement, because the wealth effect determines whether households are willing to spend, and also affects the assessment of the economic prospects in the future."

Elsewhere, manufacturing was a strong engine for growth last year, with industrial output jumping 5.8 percent from a year earlier.

Total retail sales of consumer goods grew 3.5 percent at an annual rate.

Exports expanded 7.1 percent in annual terms, while imports grew 2.3 percent.

Retail sales, a key gauge of consumer sentiment, were up 3.5 percent. Industrial output rose by 5.8 percent. (Agencies)
_____________________________
Last updated: 2025-01-17 HKT 18:31