BEIJING, Jan 19 (Kyodo/APP): China’s economy in 2025 grew a real 5.0 percent from a year earlier, government data showed Monday, fulfilling the country’s annual growth target aided by measures to boost consumer spending implemented amid a prolonged property sector crisis.
The rate of growth in gross domestic product in the world’s second-largest economy remained unchanged from the previous year. In the October-December period, China’s GDP increased 4.5 percent on year, down from 4.8 percent in the July-September quarter.
China’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 1.2 percent from the previous three months. In order to spur domestic demand, the Chinese government introduced trade-in programs covering consumer goods such as home appliances, vehicles and smartphones.
In 2025, China saw exports to the United States sharply decline due to intensified trade friction following U.S. President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, but its shipments to other Asian economies and African nations expanded.
Beijing’s trade surplus exceeded $1 trillion for the first time last year, Chinese customs authorities said last week.
The National Bureau of Statistics said China’s economy had “sustained the momentum of steady progress in 2025 despite multiple pressures.”
“However, we must be aware that the impact of changes in the external environment is growing, the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in the domestic market is prominent, and numerous long-standing issues and new challenges still remain for economic development,” it added.
Last year, retail sales of consumer goods increased 3.7 percent on year, while investment in fixed assets, excluding rural households, fell 3.8 percent and investment in real estate development dropped 17.2 percent.
Industrial production in China, dubbed the “world’s factory,” grew 5.9 percent. The total value of exports climbed 6.1 percent while that of imports edged up 0.5