compared to a year earlier. that s faster than expected but it s still the weakest growth in a year and a half. gross domestic product expanded 8.1% for the entire year about what experts predicted. kristi lu stout is in hong tongue with more on the numbers. great to see you. why is growth slowing like this and how will china s leadership help support the nation s economy? one major factor is china s zero covid policy. the zero tolerance approach to pandemic control. china has just reported its slowest economic growth in a year and a half, reporting fourth quarter gdp of just 4%. that was a little bit higher than what analysts were expecting. but it pales in comparison to the first half of last year when china experienced that sharp rebound from its initial pandemic slump. china right now is counting the cost of two things. number one, its ongoing deepening property crisis and number two its zero covid prols.