Although the market had been revising expectations for the GDP higher, and then the figure came out even slightly better than expectations, the result is still not great, is it?
Reuters headline: China’s economy rebounds in fourth quarter, 2012 weakest since 1999
China’s economy grew 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter of last year from a year earlier, rebounding after seven straight quarters of slowdown, but an uncertain global outlook means Beijing may need to keep tweaking policy to support growth.
The Financial Times headline: China records slowest growth for 10 years (gated)
China’s economy slid to its slowest growth in more than a decade last year, dragged down by global woes and a domestic campaign to deflate a property bubble.
But the country finished 2012 on a higher note with a rebound that analysts believe will filter into a stronger performance this year.
Bloomberg are a little more optimistic:
China Economic Growth Picks Up for First Time in Two Years
China’s economic growth accelerated for the first time in two years, with industrial output picking up, after the government implemented policies to revive domestic demand as export growth slumped.
The rebound may gather pace in the first half as infrastructure projects are rolled out and the housing market picks up, …“China is in a cyclical recovery and we can see that the recovery will continue into the first and second quarters, but what happens after that is quite uncertain,” Yao Wei, China economist with Societe Generale SA
