Containers pile up at Lianyungang port in Jiangsu province, October 13, 2015. [Photo: Asianewsphoto]

Latest official data shows China's economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in 2015, the slowest annual expansion over the last two decades.

Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 6.8 percent, the lowest quarterly rate since the global financial crisis.

The data shows that the service sector contributed 50.5 percent to the country's GDP last year, up from 48.1 percent in 2014.

This is the first time in 20 years the ratio has exceeded 50 percent, indicating China's economic restructuring has made progress.

Figures also indicate that the annual growth of China's urban fixed-asset investment declined in 2015 to 10 percent, down from 15.7 percent in the previous year.

Meanwhile, property investment continued to cool to 1 percent in 2015, a sharp decrease from the 10.5-percent growth in 2014.