China Ends Tough Year For Economic Growth

While economists continue to debate the accuracy of official figures, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) voiced confidence last week that the country would end 2015 with the 6.9-percent growth of gross domestic product (GDP) that it posted in the first three quarters of the year. Although that would be the slowest rate since 1990, it roughly fulfills the government's forecast of "about 7 percent" growth. Any rate above 5 percent would be the envy of most countries. But not for China, which recorded growth of 7.3 percent last year, 7.7 percent in both 2013 and 2012, and average annual growth of 8.2 percent in the 60 years since 1953, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Read more