China posted slowest GDP growth since 2009 in 2015

According to data compiled by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, China’s economy grew 6.9% on the year in 2015, posting the weakest growth since 2009. The annual growth rate was in line with the government’s growth target of about 7%. Meanwhile, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose 6.8% in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the same quarter of 2014.

Slowdowns in industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment were cited as the main reason behind slower growth in the three months ending in December.

China’s industrial output rose 5.9% on a yearly basis in December, indicating one of the weakest gains in several years. Retail sales climbed 11.1% compared with economists’ initial forecasts of 11.3% while fixed-asset investment grew 10%, the slowest pace since 2000. Economists predict that the country’s economic growth will slow to 6.5% in 2016 and 6.3% in 2017 while President Xi Jinping reportedly aims for a growth of at least 6.5% through 2020.