China's Q4 and 2021 GDP grow faster than expected

People walk along the main shopping area in Shanghai. — Reuters

BEIJING: China's economy grew 4.0% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, faster than expected but its weakest expansion in one-and-half years, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Monday.

Gross domestic product (GDP) had been forecast to expand 3.6% from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll of analysts, slowing from 4.9% in the third quarter.