AKIPRESS.COM - China's economic growth in the fourth quarter slowed to the weakest since the financial crisis, adding pressure on a government that is struggling to restore the confidence of investors after perceived policy missteps jolted global markets.

Concerns about China's policy making ability have shot to the top of global investors' risk lists for 2016 after a renewed plunge in its stock markets and yuan currency CNY=CFXS stoked worries that the economy may be rapidly deteriorating, reports Reuters.

After being a major locomotive of global growth in recent years, China is locked in the midst of a protracted slowdown.

Weak exports, factory overcapacity, slowing investment, a soft property market and high debt levels are all compounding problems for the government as it tries to transition from a centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented model that will require leaders to cede a large degree of control.

Growth in fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) eased as expected to 6.8 percent from a year earlier, down from 6.9 percent in the third quarter and the weakest pace of expansion since the first quarter of 2009.

Full-year growth of 6.9 percent, enviable by Western standards, was China's poorest showing in quarter of a century.

Other data on Tuesday suggested the world's second-largest economy lost more steam in December, dashing hopes that a year-long flurry of government stimulus would finally kick in.

That said, there were no signs of a meltdown that some traders have feared.

Zhang Yiping, an economist at China Merchants Securities, said the struggling property market - a major driver of demand for materials from cement to steel - was mostly to blame for the difficulties China is having boosting performance.

"The policy to boost the property industry conducted in 2015 hasn't taken effect yet. I see more downward risks for China's economic growth in 2016, and they actually look fairly severe."