China's Q4 GDP grows 5.4% y/y, beating market forecast

BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - China's economy grew 5.4% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Friday, significantly beating analysts' expectations and enabling the government to meet its annual growth target.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) would expand 5.0% from a year earlier, quickening from the third-quarter's 4.6% pace as a flurry of support measures began to kick in. The quarter's growth marked the quickest since the second quarter of 2023.

For the full-year 2024, the world's second-largest economy grew 5.0%, data from the National Bureau of Statistics data showed, meeting the government's annual growth target of around 5%. Analysts had forecast 4.9% growth.

On a quarterly basis, GDP grew 1.6% in October-December, compared with a forecast 1.6% increase and a revised 1.3% gain in the previous quarter.

Chinese policymakers have unveiled a blitz of stimulus measures since September last year to revive sputtering growth, and have pledged to do more this year as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has proposed hefty tariffs on Chinese goods, is set to return to the White House next week.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; Writing by Ellen Zhang; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)