BEIJING, January 17 (TMTPOST) — China reported GDP growth of 3  percent on Tuesday, lower than the 5.5 percent target set in the Report on the Work of the Government in March.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's GDP reached 121 trillion yuan last year. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, China’s economic growth was 6.1 percent in 2019 and slowed down to 2.2 percent in 2020. And in 2021, China’s growth rebounded by 8.4 percent. 

“As a result, the national economy continued to develop despite downward pressure, the economic output reached a new level, the employment and prices were generally stable, people’s lives were continuously improved, new achievements were secured in high-quality development, and the overall economic and social development was stable and healthy,” the Bureau said in a press release .

In the fourth quarter, the GDP rose by 2.9 percent, beating expectations of 1.8 percent. However, it was lower than that of the third quarter due to a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases as the government eased Covid-19 restrictions.

In 2022, the added value of the primary industry and the secondary industry saw a year-on-year growth of 4.1 percent and 3.8 percent respectively, higher than the overall economic growth rate. The added value of the tertiary sector, or the service industry, expanded by 2.3 percent compared with last year, dragging down the overall growth rate.

The recovery of the service industry lagged behind after the hit in last December. The service industry production index fell by 0.8 percent from a year ago in that month, down by 1.1 percentage points when compared with November.

The industrial production grew by 3.6 percent in 2022, with the total value added of the industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 1.3 percent year on year in December.