China cuts 2017 GDP from 6.9 to 6.8 per cent

China on Friday lowered its GDP growth for 2017 from 6.9 per cent to 6.8 per cent after final verification of data, pointing to the continued slowdown of the world's second largest economy.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 82.08 trillion yuan (USD12.13 trillion) in 2017, down 636.7 billion yuan (USD 93.9 billion) from the preliminary calculation, the state-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

According to the NBS, the GDP pointed to a downward trend in some of the key parameters.

The growth pace of industrial sectors was lowered from 6.1 per cent to 5.9 per cent, and that of the services was adjusted from 8 per cent to 7.9 per cent.

However, the expansion of agricultural sectors on the contrary was revised up by 0.1 percentage point to 4 per cent.

The NBS revises each year's GDP twice, the preliminary and final verifications, as more information becomes available.

The adjustment lowering the 2017 growth rate created a lower base for computing the GDP for 2018.

The bureau is due to release the fourth quarter 2018 and full-year 2018 GDP figures on Monday.

Friday's new data came ahead of key talks between top trade officials of US and China in Washington on January 30-31.

The talks will be held between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and US trade representative Robert Lighthizer to work an agreement before the March 1 deadline failing which US President Donald Trump has threatened to slap additional tariffs on all Chinese exports to the US.

The two officials would review the recent official level talks on a host of issues to work out an agreement to end the trade war.

Ahead of the talks Trump said "I think China wants to get it resolved. Their economy's not doing very well".

Trump has been pressing China to bring down the USD 375 billion trade deficit in the bilateral trade, which he attributes to unfair trade practices by Beijing.

Both countries last year had slapped tit-for-tat additional tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of each other's exports.

Early this week according to the data release by customs, China's exports fell to USD 221.5 billion in December registering biggest plunge in two years amid the trade war with US, highlighting the continued slowdown of the world's second largest economy.

Both exports and imports fared worse than expected in December, according to the figures released Monday by the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Total exports fell to USD 221.25 billion in December, down 1.4 per cent from November, and 4.4 per cent from the same month in 2017.

Chinese economy grew at 6.5 per cent in the third quarter posting slowest growth since 2009 as it grappled with the intensifying trade war with US and the mounting local governments debt which rose to USD 2.58 trillion.

A write up in the state-run China Daily on Friday said the government might lower its economic target for the year.

China's GDP will be expected to rise in a range of 6-6.5 per cent, lower than the 6.5 per cent target set for 2018.

Chinese policy makers however defend the slowdown by saying that it is still well ahead of most major world economies.

Some analysts have warned that possible deflation risks lay ahead, after the Producer Price Index, a key measure of price changes, rose by just 0.9 per cent year-on-year in December, the report said.