Gross domestic product in China rose 10.7% from a year before, according to a statistics bureau report from Beijing. For the full year, GDP gained 8.7%.
The report has stoked speculation the central bank will begin a interest rate campaign on its benchmark interest rate and tighten restrictions on the nation’s lenders. According to reports, minutes after the release, the People’s Bank of China guided three-month bill yields higher, essentially raising interest rates.
The world may again this year count on China as the biggest engine of growth, with the International Monetary Fund projecting it to expand 9 percent, compared with 1.3 percent for developed economies.
Retail sales in China rose 16.9 percent after adjusting for consumer price changes, the bureau said. The government stated the gain was the biggest since 1986.
Fourth-quarter economic growth was driven by an unprecedented $586 billion stimulus package, subsidies for consumer purchases and a credit-fueled investment boom. The property market has rebounded and a 13-month slump in exports ended last month.
China’s 2009 GDP growth rate was down from 9.6% in 2008. The statistics bureau revised its estimate of growth in the third quarter of 2009 to 9.1 percent from 8.9 percent. It changed the first-quarter figure to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent.
