BEIJING (Reuters) - China's economy grew by around 7 percent in 2015, with the services sector accounting for half of gross domestic product (GDP), Premier Li Keqiang said on Saturday.
The premier also said that employment had expanded more than expected and that consumption contributed nearly 60 percent of economic growth.
Li made the remarks at the opening ceremony for the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing.
China's fourth-quarter and full-year 2015 GDP figures are expected to be released on Jan. 19.
Analysts polled by Reuters have forecast 2015 growth cooled to 6.9 percent, down from 7.3 percent in 2014 and the slowest pace in a quarter of a century.
(Reporting by Sue-lin Wong and the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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