China's economy, the world's second largest, has grown at its slowest pace in 13 years as domestic and global demand weakened, BBC News reported.
Gross domestic product, the main measure of growth, increased by 7.8% in 2012, down from 9.3% in 2011. However, government measures to boost growth are starting to work, and there was a pick up in the last quarter.
Economic stability is seen as vital for China as new leaders are set to take over and try to lift living standards.
Analysts said that the rebound in the economy during the last three months of 2012, when growth picked up to 7.9% from 7.4% in the previous three months, will help ease some concerns.
However, they warned that the government spending plans that helped stoke the economy will fade as 2013 continues, and that China would still be vulnerable to the impact of external shocks in the U.S. and Europe.
Along with the longer-term reasons for the slowdown, there are some other factors affecting China in the short term as well.
Slower growth in the U.S. and Europe have seen demand soften for Chinese products. At the same time, China has struggled to stoke its domestic demand.
The government also took measures to cool the property market amid fears that a bubble was developing, something that also impacted the speed at which the economy expanded.
These factors brought down the pace of growth late last year to uncomfortable levels, with some economists predicting a "hard landing", or a sharp slowdown.
However, their pessimistic predictions of a slump to growth of 6% seem to have been too extreme.
Instead the government implemented infrastructure spending programs to spur growth and also provided incentives to encourage consumer spending and corporate borrowing.
