China ends year of stabilisation on high as consumers spend

Propelled by robust consumption from an increasingly wealthy middle class

China’s economy accelerated for the first time in two years in the final quarter of 2016, cementing an economic stabilisation that’s giving leaders a buffer as they transition to neutral policy and prepare for potential trade tensions with Donald Trump.

Gross domestic product increased 6.8 per cent in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with a 6.7 per cent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The full-year expansion of 6.7 per cent was the slowest since 1990, but still landed right in the middle of the 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent official target.

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