China's economy: An engine of global growth

The Chinese economy not only remained stable last year, it expanded 6.1 percent despite external turbulence. That suggests resilience backed by a vast domestic market, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics indicated.

"The economy was generally stable last year, with a steady rise in the quality of development," said Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS.

China's annual GDP came in at 99.09 trillion yuan ($14.4 trillion) last year, while per-capita GDP topped $10,000 for the first time at $10,276, Ning said.

China registered annual growth of 6.1 percent year-on-year, which is within the country's target range of 6 percent to 6.5 percent set for 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China remains the strongest engine of global growth in 2019, said Ning Jizhe, head of the NBS.

There was 6 percent year-on-year GDP growth in the last quarter, which was unchanged from Q3 of 2019.