GDP growth beats forecasts

Steady growth: A worker walks near containers on a ship in Qingdao. China’s gross domestic product expanded 4% in the October-December period from a year earlier. — AP

BEIJING: China’s economy rebounded in 2021 from its pandemic-induced slump, helped by robust exports but weak consumption at the year-end and a property slowdown point to cooling momentum and the need for more policy support.

The central bank yesterday cut loan rates to cushion the world’s second-largest economy as its confronts headwinds from a rapidly cooling property sector and sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks.