CHINA Economic growth slows to ‘healthy’ 9.2%

China’s economy expanded by 9.2 percent last year, slowing from 2010, official statistics showed yesterday, as global turbulence and efforts to tame high inflation put the brakes on growth. But the still healthy annual growth suggested that China’s economy would avoid a hard landing despite slumping demand from key export markets in the US and Europe, analysts said. The rate, down from 10.4 percent growth in 2010, also means China’s central bank is less likely to ease credit in the short term to spur its economy. Beijing had set a growth target of 8 percent for 2011. Gross domestic product grew 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said, slower than in the third quarter, but still exceeding expectations. Factory output rose 13.9 percent for 2011, slower than in 2010, on reduced demand from export markets. Urban fixed asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, rose at a slower pace of 23.8 percent last year as Beijing retreated from stimulus measures. Growth in retail sales, an indicator of consumer spending, slowed to 17.1 percent in 2011. The government wants domestic consumption to play a greater role in economic growth. Statistics bureau chief Ma Jiantang warned that 2012 “will be a year of complexity and challenges” for China in light of Europe’s debt crisis. – Sapa-AFP Source