China finished 2025 with GDP of about 140.2 trillion yuan and real growth of 5.0%, a performance Beijing frames as a successful transition toward higher-quality development even as familiar weaknesses persist.
Economic momentum slowed across the year: quarterly growth eased from 5.4% in Q1 to 4.5% in Q4, but the headline pace and a 1.2% quarter-on-quarter expansion in the final quarter allowed policymakers to declare the annual targets met and the “14th Five-Year Plan” successfully closed.
Agricultural output delivered a reassuring note: total grain production rose 1.2% and pork, beef and poultry production grew, pushing total meat output past 100 million tonnes for the first time. Food security and rural incomes were bright spots, with rural per-capita disposable income raising at a faster clip than urban incomes.
Manufacturing and high-tech sectors were the real engines of growth. Industrial value added rose 5.9%, manufacturing 6.4%, while equipment-making and high-tech manufacturing expanded around 9%. Output of advanced products — from 3D printers to industrial robots and new-energy vehicles — recorded double- and triple-digit gains, and high-tech exports jumped 13.2%.
The services sector also expanded, up 5.4% for the year, led by information technology, leasing and business services, and logistics. Online retail continued to gain share, with e-commerce sales growing faster than in-store retail, and service-sector business expectations remained elevated into December.
But domestic demand showed only modest improvement. Retail sales rose 3.7% for the year and month-to-month retail growth flattened in December. Fixed-asset investment fell 3.8% overall, dragged down by a 17.2% decline in property development investment; manufacturing investment was one of the few positive areas, edging up 0.6%.
External trade provided counterbalancing support: total goods trade rose 3.8% with exports up 6.1% and imports up 0.5%. The share of trade with Belt and Road countries remained large and private firms increased their share of trade, indicating diversified external demand even as global headwinds persist.
Price signals were mixed. Headline CPI was flat for the year while core CPI rose a modest 0.7%, and producer prices were down roughly 2.6%, reflecting ongoing cost pressures in industry. Labour markets were broadly stable: the surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 5.2% and employment indicators showed steady — if not robust — outcomes.
The authorities’ readout was both celebratory and cautionary. Beijing hailed the year as evidence that the economy can withstand external shocks while upgrading up the value chain, but officials also warned of deepening external uncertainties, weak domestic demand, property overhangs and demographic headwinds. Policy pledges include more active macro measures, measures to expand domestic demand and a push to deepen the national unified market as Beijing seeks a higher-quality, more resilient growth model going into the next Five-Year cycle.