China's economy expanded 8.7 percent in 2009 from a year earlier, indicating that China has achieved its full-year growth target of 8 percent for 2009, which the government believes is essential to generate more jobs for the country's 1.3 billion population.
The gross domestic product (GDP) reached 33.54 trillion RMB (4.91 trillion USD) in 2009, Ma Jiantang, director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), told a press conference Thursday (Jan 21).
