China GDP Expanded 9.8% in the Fourth Quarter of 2010

China’s economy unexpectedly accelerated in the fourth quarter of 2010 despite a series of tightening measures, spotlighting Beijing’s difficulties managing growth and fueling market concerns about further government moves to combat inflation. The fourth quarter’s 9.8% expansion in China’s GDP makes it all but certain that China became the world’s second largest economy in 2010, ending Japan’s 42-year reign in that position—although Japan doesn’t report its year-end economic data until next month. – The WSJ