China's economy grew 6.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018 from a year earlier, in line with expectations and slower than the previous quarter's 6.5 per cent growth.
For all of 2018, the world's second-largest economy grew 6.6 per cent -- its slowest expansion in 28 years and cooling from a revised 6.8 per cent in 2017, official data showed on Monday. Analysts had expected 6.6 per cent.
The September-December growth rate was the weakest expansion since the global financial crisis, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed, adding to fears of a sharper slowdown in global growth.
Analysts had expected gross domestic product to expand 6.4 per cent in the October-December quarter.
Chinese policymakers are expected to ramp up support for the economy this year to avert a sharper slowdown but analysts say activity may not stabilise until summer, adding pressure on Beijing to strike a deal with Washington to end their trade war.
