China’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter
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Official data released on Monday showed China’s economy grew 4.7% year-on-year in the second quarter, below forecasts and marking a slower pace of growth than in the previous three months.
Gross domestic product, of which plus 5.3 percent in the first quarter of last year, is expected to have grown 5.1 percent based on economists polled by Reuters.
The world’s second-largest economy is struggling with weak consumer demand and a prolonged property market downturn, forcing policymakers to intervene more in recent months.
Industrial output rose 5.3 percent in June, while retail sales rose just 2 percent in the same month, much lower than expected.
New home prices in China fell 4.5 percent year-on-year last month, the fastest pace of decline in nine years, according to Reuters calculations, while new construction starts and real estate investment fell 23.7 percent and 10.1 percent respectively in the first half.
The data release came as the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Monday launched the third plenary sessiona four-day meeting during which the country’s leaders are expected to set economic policy. The most recent such event was held in 2018.
Beijing has set its full-year economic growth target at around 5%.
