China’s 2017 GDP up 6.9%, beats target

BEIJING: China’s economy grew a forecast-beating 6.9% in 2017, picking up steam for the first time since 2010 despite its battles against a massive debt and polluting factories, official data showed yesterday.

The world’s number two economy eclipsed the official target of about 6.5% and picked up pace from the 6.7% growth seen in 2016, which was the slowest for more than a quarter of a century.

The robust economic expansion indicated stability after slowing down since China last posted double-digit growth in 2010.

“The national economy has maintained the momentum of stable and sound development and exceeded the expectation with the economic vitality, impetus and potential released,” National Statistics Bureau head Ning Jizhe said in a report.

“We should also be aware that there are still difficulties and challenges confronting the economy and the improvement of quality and efficiency remains a daunting task,” Ning said.

The reading – which beat the 6.8% predicted by analysts surveyed by AFP – comes as China kicks its war on pollution into gear.

The latest data showed the economy expanding 6.8% in the last quarter of 2017, matching the third quarter figure though it was below the 6.9% in the first half.

Ning dismissed questions on the reliability of China’s statistics raised after the city of Tianjin and the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia admitted to inflating certain 2016 data.

“The system for calculating China’s statistics data is not affected by a small number of places, or some places, or some companies” having accuracy issues with their data, he said. – AFP