• Fixed-asset investment rose 5.4% in the year, increasing its pace in the final month particularly through a jump in manufacturing expenditure

The world’s second-largest economy expanded by 6.1% in 2019, slower than 6.6% the previous year but in line with the government’s target. The signing of the phase-one trade deal with the U.S. this week combined with recovering global demand has improved the outlook for Chinese factories and exporters in 2020, though uncertain implementation of that deal and domestic financial fragility remain risks.

“The latest GDP and IP data provides a very positive start to the Chinese New Year for China’s economy,” said Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist at IHS Markit in Singapore. “The outlook for 2020 is for continued robust growth, boosted by the Phase One trade deal with the U.S. and the continued positive impact of government monetary and fiscal policy stimulus measures.”

The surveyed unemployment rate ticked up to 5.2% from 5.1% in December, signaling that the manufacturing-led slowdown in 2019 may be filtering through to the labor market

Industrial output rose 6.9% in December from the same period the previous year, versus the median forecast of 5.9%. Retail sales rose 8% versus an estimate of 7.9%

Policy makers have signaled they are prioritizing economic stability in 2020, with stimulus to be kept basically unchanged. Data released Thursday showed that overall credit growth held up in December and a gauge of borrowing costs fell, indicating that policy makers are beginning to see some progress in channeling credit to the economy.

“All we can say is that China’s economy is stabilizing. It’s hard to forecast if the trend will continue in 2020 and if there will be a rebound,” said Betty Wang, senior economist at Australia &New Zealand Banking Group. “The trade deal provided some short-term support for the economy, but there still exists great uncertainty in the long run.”