China’s economy loses steam: growing 0.8% in the second quarter | national and international economy

The Chinese economy is losing its momentum and growth is weak due to the slowdown in internal and external demand. From April to June, China’s gross domestic product grew 0.8% on a quarterly basis, according to data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (ONE), higher than the 0.5% expected by analysts but representing a sharp slowdown. Compared to data for the first quarter of the year when it came in at 2.2% qoq.

In annual terms, the economy grew 6.3%, accelerating from 4.5% in the first quarter but below analysts’ expectations of 7.3%. Although the annual growth rate of the Chinese economy was the fastest since the second quarter of 2021, the comparison has been severely skewed by the restrictions and restrictions of the national ‘zero covid’ policy already dismantled after the arrival of the infectious omicron variant in Shanghai and cities. Another major last year.

China, which ended Covid checks in December, has seen initial economic momentum after the momentum of ending restrictions ran out. The real estate sector has struggled to recover, while exports have slumped due to lower global demand.

A spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics told CNBC that China is facing a complex international geopolitical and economic environment. He also mentioned that China could still achieve its growth target for the full year. Beijing set a growth target of around 5% for 2023 in March.

In June alone, retail sales in China grew 3.1%, a sharp slowdown from May’s 12.7% rise, according to the data. Analysts had expected a growth of 3.2%.

Meanwhile, industrial production unexpectedly accelerated to 4.4% last month from 3.5% in May, but demand remains tepid, analysts say.

While China is seen as on track to reach its modest growth target for 2023 of around 5%, a further slowdown could lead to job losses and fuel deflationary risks.

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