Beijing — China’s economy accelerated for the first time in two years in the final quarter of 2016, cementing an economic stabilisation that is giving leaders a buffer as they transition to neutral policy and prepare for potential trade tension with Donald Trump. GDP increased 6.8% in the three months to end-December from a year earlier, compared with a 6.7% median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The full-year expansion of 6.7% was the slowest since 1990, but still landed right in the middle of the 6.5%-7% official target. China powered through a volatile start to the year, propelled by robust consumption from an increasingly wealthy middle class. With manufacturing also rebounding and deflation tamed, the central bank is turning to neutral policy to address a debt binge that inflated asset bubbles and may threaten the long-term outlook. "As China’s traditional growth drivers of investment and exports have weakened, Chinese private consumption has become the key engine for economic ...
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