NO SURPRISE

China GDP Growth Slowest in 25 Years

Grew 6.9% in 2015, compared with 7.3% a year earlier.

China’s economy grew by 6.9 percent last year, compared with 7.3 percent in 2014, marking its slowest growth in 25 years and raising investor concerns about a sharper slowdown. China’s fourth-quarter expansion also slowed to 6.8 percent, according to its National Bureau of Statistics, recording the weakest pace since the global financial crisis. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected that growth rate, while Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said over the weekend that the world’s second largest economy was expected to grow “about 7 percent.” However, critics have called China’s data unreliable and argued that real growth figures could be much weaker. Beijing has denied inflating numbers.