The growth rate was still above forecasts by investment bank UBS

The bank noted that the property downturn deepened, with property sales, new starts and investment declining by 16%, 31% and 14% year-on-year, respectively.

"Meanwhile, Q4 exports remained strong, manufacturing capex strengthened, while the decline in infrastructure investment narrowed," UBS said.

"Industrial production growth cooled to 3.9% year-on-year despite the fading impact from power shortage.

"Compared with 2019 levels, Q4 retail sales, exports, manufacturing capex and infrastructure investment all saw a larger gain than Q3, while IP largely stabilised.

"Nevertheless, the underlying strength in goods consumption and investment seems weaker than the headline GDP growth. Such gap may be only explained by larger growth contribution from net exports and more resilient service sectors growth."

Three-month LME prices were mixed this morning in London, with copper at $4.40/lb and nickel up 1% to $10/lb. Gold was down slightly from Monday at US$1,815/oz.