“China's economy likely grew at the slowest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter, dragged by weaker demand due to a property downturn, curbs on debt and strict COVID-19 measures, raising the heat on policymakers to roll out more easing steps,” said Reuters ahead of the key data release.

Highlights

Data on Monday is expected to show gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.6% in October-December from a year earlier - the weakest pace since the second quarter of 2020 and slowing from 4.9% in the third quarter, a Reuters poll showed.

The world's second-largest economy, which cooled over the course of last year, faces multiple headwinds in 2022, including persistent property weakness and a fresh challenge from the recent local spread of the highly-contagious Omicron variant.

Policymakers have vowed to head off a sharper slowdown, ahead of a key Communist Party Congress late this year.

The central bank is set to unveil more easing steps, though it will likely favour injecting more cash into the economy rather than cutting interest rates too aggressively, policy insiders and economists said.

Policymakers have also pledged to step up fiscal support for the economy, speeding up local government special bond issuance to spur infrastructure investment and planning more tax cuts.

Market reaction

Global markets remain lackluster ahead of the key China data, which in turn weigh on the Antipodeans like AUD/USD and NZD/USD.

Read: NZD/USD bears attack 0.6800 on USD rebound, firmer yields, China GDP eyed