China's GDP growth hits 24-year low; slowdown seen continuing

Beijing

CHINA'S GDP growth in 2014 has come in at 7.4 per cent - a 24-year low that just misses the 7.5 per cent target set by the government. The figure is in line with what Beijing has dubbed "the New Normal" - meaning the end of GDP growth as an end in itself, the upgrading of economic structures and a new qualitative growth model led by innovation. In 2013, the economy grew 7.7 per cent.

However, though the figures are in line with long-term forecasts, with the service sector up as a component of GDP, analysts warn that the world's second-largest economy would continue to face structural risks well into 2015 as many sectors including steel, cement and glass are threatened by falling commodity prices and inherent overcapacity. Local and corporate debt, left over by the previous 2008 stimulus, are also limiting credit issued by banks, eager to mitigate lending risks.