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BEIJING (AP) — China's economic growth edged down to 6.8 percent in the final quarter of 2015, dragging the full year's growth to a 25-year low of 6.9 percent.
Chinese leaders are trying to steer their economy to more sustainable growth driven by domestic consumption and services to replace a worn-out model based on trade and investment.
But the unexpectedly sharp decline over the past two years prompted fears of a politically dangerous spike in job losses and prompted Beijing to cut interest rates repeatedly and take other steps to shore up growth.
The quarterly growth reported Tuesday was China's weakest since the aftermath of the 2008 global crisis. It was down from 6.9 percent in the previous quarter.
Still, then numbers are in line with the government's target and close to the median of private forecasts. Some analysts had forecast a much sharper slowdown.
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114-c-17-(Joe McDonald, AP correspondent)-"percent in 2007"-AP correspondent Joe McDonald reports China's economy cooled further in the last quarter of 2015. (19 Jan 2016)
<<CUT *114 (01/19/16)££ 00:17 "percent in 2007"
115-c-10-(Joe McDonald, AP correspondent)-"and possible unrest"-AP correspondent Joe McDonald reports the Communist Party is actively trying to steer the country away from relying on trade and investment and toward more self-sustaining growth driven by domestic consumption and services. (19 Jan 2016)
<<CUT *115 (01/19/16)££ 00:10 "and possible unrest"
116-c-17-(Joe McDonald, AP correspondent)-"proceeding more slowly"-AP correspondent Joe McDonald reports China's growth has fallen steadily over the past five years. (19 Jan 2016)
<<CUT *116 (01/19/16)££ 00:17 "proceeding more slowly"
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