China’s Expanding Economy Fueled By Transport, Hospitality

For the first time in two years, China’s economy has accelerated, which the National Bureau of Statistics said was sparked by transport, deliveries and eateries.

The National Bureau of Statistics noted that carriers, warehousing and delivery output rose 9.9 percent in Q4 from a year earlier.

The growth in the nation’s economy, Bloomberg reported, is a clear indication that it is going through a transition. Rather than relying on smokestack industries, China is becoming more dependent on role like waiters, delivery people, doctors and software engineers.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics also noted that the country’s gross domestic product grew by 6.8 percent in the three months leading up to December, with services comprising 51 percent of the expansion.

While the fourth quarter marked the first time in 24 months that the second-largest economy in the world reported an increase in growth, Reuters reported that it may not be long-lasting. The Chinese economy will face pressures in 2017, including a cooling off of the housing market, the results of structural reforms by the government and the potential to have a less-than-friendly relationship with Trump’s administration in the U.S.

“We do not expect this [Q4 GDP] rebound to extend far into 2017, when a slowdown in the property market and steps to address supply shortages in the commodity sector ought to drag again on demand and output,” said Tom Rafferty, regional China manager for the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the Reuters report.

Reuters noted that the housing market helped the economic growth in the country during the fourth quarter, with property investments increasing 11.1 percent in December from 5.7 percent in November. Consumers were also in the mood to spend with consumer spending lodging strong growth in December.