China's economy grows slower than expected in second quarter
July 17, 2023
China's economy has seen 6.3% growth in the second quarter year over year, below the more than 7% analysts were predicting.
The figure is largely due to the low starting position in the same period last year, when the financial hubs of Shanghai and other parts of China were in strict COVID-19 lockdowns.
According to figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics, gross domestic product (GDP) quarter on quarter growth in the period of April through to June was 0.8%. This is considerably less than the 2.2% expansion in the first quarter.
Concern over real estate and consumer spending
GDP growth had been better than anticipated in the first quarter at 4.5%, as consumer spending spiked following the removal of "zero-COVID" restrictions late in 2022.
The world's second-largest economy has a struggling real estate market and soft consumer demand.
Warning bells were ringing in June when government figures showed that exports had suffered a significant decline, which placed pressure on Beijing to introduce more stimulus measures in order to revive the struggling recovery.
Moody's analytics economist told the Associated Press news agency that the numbers were a "worrying result" for Beijing.
"China's recovery is going from bad to worse," he said. "After a sugar injection in the opening months of 2023, the pandemic hangover is plaguing China's recovery."
kb/wd (AP, AFP, dpa)