BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's business news from the past week:
GDP
China's economy grew 6.1 percent year on year in 2019, within the government's annual target of 6 to 6.5 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) totaled 99.09 trillion yuan (14.38 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2019, with the service sector accounting for more than half of the total.
HOME PRICES
Home prices in 70 major Chinese cities remained generally stable in December, data showed Thursday.
New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- increased 0.2 percent month on month in December, 0.4 percentage points lower than the previous month, the NBS said.
THE YUAN
The central parity rate of the Chinese yuan strengthened to a five-month high Tuesday.
The central parity rate strengthened 309 pips to 6.8954 against the U.S. dollar, its strongest rate since Aug. 1 last year, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.
This came after the United States dropped its designation of China as a currency manipulator.
FOREIGN TRADE
China's foreign trade rose 3.4 percent in 2019 to 31.54 trillion yuan, customs data showed Tuesday.
Exports grew 5 percent year on year to 17.23 trillion yuan last year while imports climbed 1.6 percent to 14.31 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 2.92 trillion yuan, which expanded by 25.4 percent, the General Administration of Customs said.
