China's economy expanded by 9.2 percent in 2011 from a year earlier and 8.9 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Tuesday.

The quarterly growth was the slowest in 10 quarters. China set its full-year growth target at 8 percent in early 2011 after its economy grew 10.3 percent in 2010.

The country's economy expanded 2 percent in the fourth quarter on a quarterly basis, NBS chief Ma Jiantang said at a press conference.

The economy grew 9.1 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2011, compared to 9.5 percent in the second quarter and 9.7 percent in the first quarter.

According to preliminary statistics, the country's GDP reached 47.16 trillion yuan ($7.26 trillion) in 2011, Ma said.

He said the country's economic performance in 2011 was "a good start" for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period and is in line with macroeconomic regulations.

The NBS chief said the country faces a highly complicated external environment in 2012, as the economies of the European Union and the United States remain sluggish, the global financial market is experiencing turbulence and protectionism is on the rise.

There are also a number of domestic risks, including mid- and long-term upward price pressures and funding shortages for small businesses, as well as structural changes intended to enhance energy-saving and emission reduction, he added.

"Although GDP growth fell on a quarterly basis, it was within a reasonable range and the country's economic fundamentals were not changed. We have confidence for 2012's growth," said Ma.

He said the country's urbanization process, development of its market economy and industrialization have provided exhaustive forces for growth.

NBS data showed China's industrial value-added output growth decelerated in 2011 from a year earlier to 13.9 percent year-on-year. The country's fixed-asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, rose 23.8 percent year-on-year. Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, rose 18.1 percent year-on-year in December 2011, up from the 17.3-percent growth seen in November.

"The figures are very impressive amid complicated international and domestic situations," Ma said.

Ma's comments were echoed by Zhang Xiaojing, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank. Zhang said the slowdown was a result of macroeconomic controls and sluggish external demand.

"Since the country's inflation has eased, the government has more room to fine-tune its macroeconomic policies in the future. Authorities could continue to implement structural tax reduction to change the country's economic structure and improve livelihoods," said Zhang.

A December inflation decrease has fueled widespread guesses about possible policy loosening to spur the slowing economy, although analysts believe that significant easing is unlikely, since inflationary pressures still remain.

The full-year inflation figure for 2011 was still up 5.4 percent from the previous year and well above the government's full-year control target of 4 percent, according to the NBS.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2012)