China’s economy, the world’s second-largest, grew at its slowest pace in 14 years in 2013, latest figures show.
Its gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.7 percent from a year ago, the slowest pace of growth since 1999.
The growth rate was better than the government’s target of 7.5 percent. The pace of expansion was also the same as 2012.
Many analysts expect the country’s growth rate to slow as it takes steps to move away from an investment-led growth model to one driven by domestic consumption. Data released today showed that China’s growth rate slowed in the October-to-December quarter.