China's 2025 economic growth among slowest in decades

While the five percent expansion was in line with Beijing's annual target -- a low-ball figure analysts have likened to a political comfort blanket -- observers warned it was driven largely by exports and masked weak sentiment on the ground. And in a sign of the work ahead for leaders, the data also showed a significant slowdown in the last quarter of the year, growing at 4.5 percent as expected. "The impact of changes in the external environment has deepened," admitted National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) official Kang Yi.