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.

The fall came despite a slight rise in births last year, the first increase since 2016. State efforts to cajole women to have children have met resistance.

China’s population continued to decline last year—though births edged up for the first time in eight years—falling for a third straight year as deaths outpaced births.China had seen birth numbers plummet since 2017,

China recorded its third consecutive year of population decline in 2024, despite the country’s first increase in births in almost a decade in a year traditionally regarded as auspicious. Figures released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed the country recorded 9.