China’s economy achieved its growth target in 2025, weathering trade threats but the imbalance between domestic demand and exports persisted with growth focused more on foreign demand, official data revealed Monday.
In the whole year of 2025, the second-largest economy posted 5 percent growth, the National Bureau of Statistics said. This was in line with Beijing’s growth target of “around 5 percent.”
However, data showed that growth softened towards the end of the year. Gross domestic product expanded 4.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, the weakest in three years. This followed 4.8 percent growth seen in the previous quarter and matched expectations.
On a quarterly basis, GDP grew 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter but faster than the forecast of 1.0 percent.
In 2025, industrial production advanced 5.9 percent and retail sales climbed 3.7 percent. Meanwhile, fixed asset investment declined 3.8 percent and property investment plunged 17.2 percent.
In December, industrial output moved up 5.2 percent, while retail sales grew only 0.9 percent. Production was expected to rise 5.1 percent and retail sales to grow 1.1 percent.
Official trade data released last week showed that China remained resilient to tariff tensions last year. The trade surplus rose to a record $1.19 trillion in 2025.
Exports to the US declined 20.0 percent in 2025 but this fall was more than offset by strong growth in shipments to other economies.
Last month, the World Bank projected China’s GDP growth to ease to 4.4 percent in 2026 as existing headwinds are expected to persist.
The bank observed that challenges in the property sector, subdued earning prospects, labor market softness, and trade policy uncertainty could last longer than expected and weigh on consumption and investment.
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