China's economy grew 8.1 percent in 2021, faster than a forecast 8 percent and well above a government target of "above 6 percent", Reuters reported on Monday.

The country's fourth-quarter GDP rose by 4 percent from a year ago, which is also faster than the 3.6 percent increase forecast by a Reuters poll, its industrial production rose by 4.3 percent in December from a year ago, beating Reuters' forecast of 3.6 percent growth, said CNBC on Monday.

Notably, the country's auto production grew for the first time since April, up by 3.4 percent year-on-year in December, CNBC reported.

CNN said shipments from China beat forecasts and jumped 21 percent in December, bringing the value of China's exports for the year to nearly $3.4 trillion.

In 2021, overall retail sales grew by 12.5 percent from the prior year's contraction, and also topped 2019 levels, per CNBC.

Business employees' incomes generally went up between 2020 and 2021, especially in labor-intensive industries like catering and manufacturing, said Christine Peng, head of the Greater China consumer sector at UBS.

China is trying to steer the economy to more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption instead of exports and investment, and to reduce financial risks, Associated Press reported on Monday.

At the Central Economic Work Conference held in December which outlined key economic policy priorities for 2022, the government signaled that it would be proactive about policy, and expects to prioritize infrastructure investment and support commercial housing markets, CNN reported.