BEIJING: China’s economy grew at 6.6 per cent in 2018, its slowest rate in almost three decades as the world’s second biggest economy grappled with the effects of the current trade war with the US and declining exports.
In the three months to December, the economy grew 6.4% from a year earlier, down from 6.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
The data was in line with forecasts but underlines recent concern about weakening growth in the world’s second largest economy.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that Chinese economy grew at 6.6 per cent in 2018. Last year’s growth rate was down from 6.8 per cent in 2017 and was the lowest growth rate of 3.9 per cent, recorded in 1990.
China’s rate of expansion has raised worries about the potential knock-on effect on the global economy. The trade war with the US has added to the gloomy outlook. PTI
