China’s Growth Slowed by Service, Farm Sectors, Despite Construction Rebound

Weakness in the service and farm sectors slowed China’s economic growth in the fourth quarter, despite a strong pickup in construction activity, official data showed on Tuesday.

Services grew 7.4 percent from a year earlier, slowing from 7.9 percent in the third quarter, while growth in agriculture slowed to 3.5 percent from 3.6 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The sector-by-sector breakdown follows release of headline GDP figures on Monday that showed China’s economy in the last quarter expanded at its slowest rate since the global financial crisis due to faltering domestic demand and an ongoing trade war with the United States.

The services sector accounted for almost half of gross domestic product in the quarter by value as China continued to transition towards a service-oriented economy, while agriculture contributed about 10 percent, according to Reuters’ calculations based on the latest data.

As fears for a sharp slowdown mounted amid uncertainties over whether the trade war will be brought to an end any time soon, Beijing has been drumming the message that it has plenty of room to deploy measures to spur economic growth.

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