China's red-hot economy expanded by 9.1% in 2009, the National Bureau of Statistics said today, revising an earlier figure of 8.7%.
The revision was announced ahead of the release of key second-quarter economic data later this month, which is expected to show the world's third-largest economy slowed in the three months to June.
The country's gross domestic product hit 34.0507 trillion yuan in 2009, which based on the central bank's average yuan-dollar exchange rate for the year equals $4.98 trillion.
Even with the upward revisions made by China, Japan retains its place as the world's second-largest economy.
It posted nominal GDP of $5.085 trillion last year, based on the average dollar-yen exchange rate for 2009, according to government data given in February.
The new growth figure is due to an upward revision of contributions by China's secondary and tertiary industries to last year's GDP, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website.
The growth rate was well above the government's target of 8% for the full year, a level seen as crucial for fostering job creation and staving off social unrest among China's urbanising population, which totals 1.3 billion.
China powered out of the global financial crisis last year on the back of a government stimulus package worth four trillion yuan ($586 billion), which saw massive investment in highways, bridges and other infrastructure.
After returning to double-digit growth of 10.7% in the fourth quarter of 2009, China's economy accelerated to 11.9% in the first quarter of this year, fuelling fears the economy was at risk of overheating.
Worried an explosion in bad debts could derail the economic surge, Beijing announced a series of measures to rein in bank lending and speculative property investment to avoid a damaging property bubble.
Most economists think the economy slowed in the second quarter due to these tightening measures and a slowdown in manufacturing.
Premier Wen Jiabao said this week the economy was 'developing in the expected direction', suggesting recent tightening moves would remain in place despite signs of a slowdown.
