China registers lowest economic growth in 29 years

ANKARA

China's economy grew 6.1% in 2019 registering the lowest growth in the last 29 years, according to official data revealed Friday.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics released figures for last year saying the government's annual target was 6 to 6.5%, Xinhua news agency reported.

The figure showed the country faced slowdown from 2018 when it registered a growth of 6.8%.

The new data was released two days after China signed a trade deal with U.S. after months-long trade war over tariffs.

This is the lowest growth rate since 1990 when the country witnessed political turmoil which led to downwards economic growth to 3.9%.

The bureau said that gross domestic product (GDP) of China totaled 99.09 trillion yuan ($14.38 trillion) last year. The services sector of the country accounted for more than half of the total GDP.

It added that retail sales of consumer goods rose 8% in 2019.

Statistics also revealed that China’s population has surpassed 1.4 billion by the end of 2019.