The Australian dollar has shed more than half a US cent after China recorded its weakest full year growth figure in a quarter of a century.
The currency crashed to a near seven-year low of 68.39 US cents at 1322 AEDT, down from 68.91 US cents shortly before the data was released.
China's economic gross domestic product edged down to 6.8 per cent in the final quarter of 2015, dragging the full year's growth to a 25-year low of 6.9 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund has cut its global growth forecasts for the third time in less than a year as new figures from Beijing show the Chinese economy grew at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century in 2015.
To back its forecasts, the IMF cited a sharp slowdown in China trade and weak commodity prices that are strongly affecting Brazil and other emerging markets.
The Fund forecast the world economy would grow at 3.4 per cent in 2016 and 3.6 per cent in 2017, both years down 0.2 of a percentage point from the previous estimates made last October.
Maurice Obstfeld from the IMF says the conditions in China could continue to create problems for its trading partners such as Australia and the United States.
"China could encounter rough patches where growth slows more than expected directly affecting trade partners while disturbing foreign exchange and other asset markets world wide."
