China’s Q4 GDP grows 5.4% year on year, beating market forecast

BEIJING – China’s economy expanded 5.4 per cent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Jan 17, significantly beating analysts’ expectations and enabling the government to meet its annual growth target.

Analysts polled by Reuters forecast fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) would rise 5 per cent from a year earlier, quickening from the third-quarter’s 4.6 per cent pace as a flurry of support measures began to kick in.

The quarter’s growth marks the quickest since the second quarter of 2023.

For full-year 2024, the world’s second-largest economy grew 5 per cent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics data showed, meeting the government’s target of around 5 per cent.

Analysts predicted 4.9 per cent expansion.

On a quarterly basis, GDP grew 1.6 per cent in October-December, compared with a forecast 1.6 per cent increase and a revised 1.3 per cent gain in the previous quarter.

Chinese policymakers have unveiled a blitz of stimulus measures since September 2024 to revive sputtering growth.

They have pledged to do more this year as President-elect Donald Trump, who has proposed hefty tariffs on Chinese goods, is set to return to the White House next week. REUTERS