As the trade war hit consumer confidence, China's GDP fell to 6.4% in the fourth quarter

Last year, China's economic growth rate fell to the lowest level in nearly 30 years, due to the damage to Chinese enterprises and consumers caused by the US trade war and the Chinese government's attack on the debt driven corporate spending boom.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.6% in 2018, the lowest level since 1990. In 1990, after the Tiananmen Square incident, China faltered in international sanctions. This proportion is lower than 6.8% in 2017.

The data released last Monday also showed that China's economy was slowing down, growing by only 6.4% in the fourth quarter, the lowest quarterly growth rate since the global financial crisis. China's economic growth has slowed for three consecutive quarters, triggering investors' concern that China may drag down the global economy.

Since July, the Chinese government has taken a series of fiscal and monetary stimulus measures to support investment and consumption, but new data show that these policies have so far failed to boost the economic slowdown.

Despite the pessimistic forecast, financial markets across Asia reacted calmly to the news, and most important stock indexes closed flat or up. Mainland China's CSI 300 index closed up 0.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4%. The Tokyo East Composite Index rose 0.6%, while the Sydney S&P/asx 200 index rose 0.2%.