China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced that second-quarter GDP growth in the mainland missed market expectations, expanding by just 4.3% year-on-year. This marks the slowest rate of growth since December 2022.
According to the data, GDP for the first half of the year reached RMB69.57 trillion (US$10.3 trillion). Following a 5.0% expansion in the first quarter and 4.3% in the second quarter, the economy grew by 4.7% year-on-year overall in the first half of the year.
Regarding the “troika” of economic drivers, retail sales of consumer goods in June totaled RMB 4.27 trillion (US$631 billion), up 1.0% year-on-year. For the first half of the year, total retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB 24.87 trillion (US$3.67 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 1.3%. Excluding automobiles, retail sales of consumer goods reached RMB 22.90 trillion (US$3.38 trillion), up 2.8%.
In June, industrial added value of enterprises above designated size grew by 5.3% in real terms year-on-year, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.8 percentage points compared to the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, industrial added value of enterprises above designated size grew by 0.76% in June. For the first half of the year, industrial added value of enterprises above designated size increased by 5.4% year-on-year.
In terms of investment, national fixed-asset investment in the first half of the year totaled RMB22.64 trillion (US$3.34 trillion), representing a year-on-year decrease of 5.7%.
The National Bureau of Statistics pointed out that the national economy operated within a reasonable range in the first half of the year, with “New Quality Productive Forces” being nurtured and strengthened. However, many external unstable and uncertain factors remain. Domestically, the structural imbalance of strong supply and weak demand remains prominent, and the foundation for economic recovery still needs to be consolidated.
In the next phase, efforts will continue to expand domestic demand, optimize supply, improve incremental quality, revitalize existing assets, strive to build a strong domestic market and accelerate the cultivation and strengthening of new drivers, it said.
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