China's GDP growth slows to 9.2% in 2011

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China's economic growth dropped to 9.2 percent, from the 10.3 percent in 2010. [CFP]

Chinese economy grew by 9.2 percent in 2011 from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced Tuesday.

GDP growth for the fourth quarter last year stood at 8.9 percent year on year, said the NBS. The quarterly growth was the slowest in 10 quarters. China has set the full-year growth target at 8 percent in early 2011, after its economy grew 10.3 percent in 2010.

The country's economy expanded 2 percent in the fourth quarter on a quarterly basis, NBS chief Ma Jiantang said at a press conference.

According to preliminary statistics, the country's GDP reached 47.16 trillion yuan (7.26 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2011, Ma said.

He noted the country's economic performance in 2011 was "a good start" for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period and had developed in line with the macro-economic regulation.

Ma noted the country faces a highly complicated external environment in 2012, as the economies of the EU countries and the United States remain sluggish, the global financial market is experiencing turbulence and protectionism is on the rise.

There are also a number of domestic risks, including mid- and long-term upward price pressures and funding shortages for small businesses, as well as structural changes intended to enhance energy-saving and emission reduction, he added.

"Although GDP growth fell on a quarterly basis, it was within a reasonable range and the country's economic fundamentals were not changed. We have confidence for 2012's growth," said Ma.

He said the country's urbanization process, development of its market economy and industrialization have provided exhaustive forces for growth.

NBS data showed China's industrial value-added output growth decelerated in 2011 from a year earlier to 13.9 percent year-on-year. The country's fixed-asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, rose 23.8 percent year-on-year. Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, rose 18.1 percent year-on-year in December 2011, up from the 17.3-percent growth seen in November.

"The figures are very impressive amid complicated international and domestic situations," Ma said.

Ma warned of lasting price rising pressures and possible price rebounds in 2012 in an article on Monday.