China’s estimated gross domestic product grew 7.7 per cent to 56.88 trillion yuan ($9.31 trillion) last year, the government said on Monday.
Growth in the fourth quarter of 2013 also rose 7.7 per cent year-on-year, down from 7.8 per cent in the third quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.
The annual growth of the world’s second-largest economy surpassed the ruling Communist Party’s target of 7.5 per cent, but equalled the slowest growth since 1999, the 7.7 per cent recorded in 2012.
“China’s economy showed good momentum of stable and moderate growth in 2013, which is a hard-earned achievement,” the bureau said.
“However, we should keep in mind that the deep-rooted problems built up over time are yet to be solved in such a critical period for China’s economy to develop and transform,” it said.
It said China faced “increasingly complicated and severe external and internal conditions” in trying to sustain rapid economic growth.
The government must “deepen the reform in all sectors of social and economic development,” it said.
In another sign of slowing growth, the National Energy Administration said China’s annual electricity consumption grew 7.5 per cent last year.
Some economists argue that power consumption is a better indication of economic growth than GDP.
Annual trade rose 7.6 per cent, pushing China above the United States as the world’s largest trader in goods, the Customs administration said last week.
The government is trying to promote domestic consumption and more sustainable growth as it tries to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on exports and investment in infrastructure.
Retail sales of consumer goods totalled 23.4 trillion yuan last year, up 13.1 per cent, or 11.5 per cent in real terms after deducting price factors, the National Bureau of Statistics said.