The Wall Street Journal summarise Chinese Q4 data with 5 key points

  1. The growth rate of 6.9% for the full year is the slowest since 1990
  2. The expansion for the fourth quarter came in at 6.8%, slightly below the median forecast of 6.9%. That means the growth momentum slowed a tad more than economists expected in the last three months of the year.
  3. China has undershot - sort of - its annual growth target. It set a target of "about 7%" for the year. The fudgy language allows policy-makers to say they achieved the target, a statement of political import in China.
  4. Measures to revive the economy have largely failed
  5. The Chinese economy is now responsible for one-third of global growth

That's the points in a jiffy. There is more at the article, but not a lot more.

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ps. The WSJ article is based on a reading the results at face value, they are too polite to question the veracity of the data.

Investors aren't naïve to enough to believe the data as its printed, though. Not from China, a country where selling stocks can land you in jail. LOL.