Beijing is taking a two-pronged approach to the incoming president: trying to sweeten up Trump while also signaling it is ready to fight efforts to constrain it.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attends a meeting with Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China January 11, 2025. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Vice President Han Zheng will attend U.

China's economy matched the government's ambitions for 5% growth last year, but in a lopsided fashion, with many people complaining of worsening living standards as Beijing struggles to transfer its industrial and export gains to consumers.

China reported its economy grew 5% in 2024, meeting its target of around 5%. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected China's full-year GDP growth to come in at 4.9%, just shy of the official target of around 5% — which analysts had said was ambitious.

Analysts say they see signs of malaise in China’s domestic economy, but those problems were offset mainly by robust exports and a $1 trillion trade surplus.

China recorded one of its slowest rates of economic growth in decades last year, data showed Friday, as leaders nervously eye a potential trade standoff with the US President-elect Donald Trump. Beijing has in recent months announced its most aggressive support measures in years in a bid to reignite an economy that has suffered on multiple fronts,