Beijing: China’s gross domestic product rose 6.9 per cent in 2015, official data showed Tuesday, as the world’s second-largest economy slumped to its lowest annual expansion rate in a quarter century.

The figure announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was well below the 7.3 per cent growth recorded in 2014, but matched the median forecast in an AFP survey of 18 economists.

Expansion also slowed in the fourth quarter of last year, the NBS, declining to 6.8 per cent year-on-year, again matching the median forecast in AFP’s poll.

Tuesday’s data suggest no material change in what most economists have been telling the world for years: China’s economy is cooling gradually from sizzling double-digit growth rates to a hopefully more sustainable pace in the mid-single digits, with no signs yet of a hard landing which investors fear.

But some market watchers believe real growth levels may be much weaker than official data suggest, jeopardising the fragile global economy.

Weak End to 2015

Other data on Tuesday suggested China’s economy continued to lose steam late in the year, dashing hopes that a year-long flurry of government measures were finally beginning to take effect.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, economic growth eased to 1.6 per cent in the fourth-quarter, versus expectations of 1.7 per cent and down from 1.8 per cent in the third quarter.

Industrial output rose 5.9 per cent in December from a year earlier, missing forecasts of 6.0 per cent, and slowing from November’s 6.2 per cent.

Retail sales climbed 11.1 per cent in December from a year earlier, but less than an 11.3 per cent rise expected by the market and November’s 11.2 per cent.

Fixed-asset investment growth, a crucial driver of the economy, grew 10.0 per cent in 2015 from the previous year, also missing market expectations.

Economists had expected investment growth would come in at 10.2 per cent - the same rate as in the first 11 months of 2015.

Data on Monday showed China’s home prices continued to rise in December 2015, adding to signs of improvements in the housing market, which accounts for about 13 per cent of GDP. But a huge overhang of unsold homes means the property sector remains uneven across the country and a full-blown recovery is not seen this year.