GDP growth for the full year was 5.2%.
“As investment in the property sector is falling, the economy is dependent on the manufacturing sector and the services sector,” Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said in a note.
“This transformation will take time to materialize. The key question in the market is when the transformation in the property sector will be complete.”
Excluding those still in school, the unemployment rate among 16- to 24-year-olds was 14.9% and 5.1% in cities in December.
The bureau has temporarily suspended publishing the youth unemployment rate for the summer, citing the need to reevaluate its calculation methods. That unemployment rate previously rose to records above 20%.
Retail sales rose 7.4% in December, missing expectations for 8% growth.
Industrial production rose 6.8% in December from a year earlier, beating forecasts for 6.6% growth.
Fixed asset investment rose 3% for 2023, compared to a forecast increase of 2.9%.
Within fixed asset investment, real estate has declined by 9.6% in 2023. Investment in infrastructure rose 5.9%, while manufacturing grew 6.5%.
Online retail sales of physical goods rose 8.4%, accounting for nearly 28% of overall retail sales.
The Bureau of Statistics also said that retail sales of services in 2023 will increase by 20% from a year ago.
Retail jewelry sales rose 29% and clothing and footwear purchases rose 26% in December.
Sales of daily necessities, pharmaceuticals, cultural and office supplies, and construction products fell in December.
China abruptly ended its Covid-19 restrictions in December 2022, and people rushed to buy medicine amid widespread disease that month.
China's population will shrink by more than 2 million people to 1.41 billion in 2023 from last year, according to the Bureau of Statistics. 850,000 population decrease from 2021 to 2022.
“Effectively improve economic potential, prevent and reduce risks, improve social expectations, coordinate and increase the good pace of economic recovery and growth, effectively improve quality, and appropriately expand the size of the national economy,” the bureau says. said.
This is a growing story. Check back for updates.
