Forexpros – China’s economy grew at the slowest pace in more than two years in the fourth quarter of 2011, but still topped expectations, official data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said gross domestic product rose at an annualized rate of 8.9% in the fourth quarter, slowing from growth of 9.1% in the preceding quarter.
Analysts had expected China’s economy to grow at a rate of 8.8% in the three months ended in December.
The economy expanded by 2.0% in the fourth quarter from the previous three months of the year, after a 2.3% percent gain in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter growth rate was the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009, when the global economy stumbled out of a deep recession.
Following the release of the data, Asian stock markets were broadly higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rallied 2.65%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index gained 1.05%.
