China’s growth slides to weakest pace in almost three decades

Gross domestic product rose 6.2.% in the April-June period from a year earlier, below the 6.4% expansion in the first quarter and matching economists’ estimates. In June, factory output rose 6.3%, retail sales rose 9.8%, while investment gained 5.8% in the first half of the year -- all three beating estimates in further evidence that stimulus measures to curb the slowdown may be feeding through.

China’s economy continued slowing in the second quarter, as fragile domestic output and continuing trade tensions pulled growth down to the weakest pace since the early 1990s.

The slowdown underlines the pressure that Chinese policy makers face as they attempt to negotiate a deal with the U.S. (AFP Photo)

Gross domestic product rose 6.2.% in the April-June period from a year earlier, below the 6.4% expansion in the first quarter and matching economists’ estimates. In June, factory output rose 6.3%, retail sales rose 9.8%, while investment gained 5.8% in the first half of the year -- all three beating estimates in further evidence that stimulus measures to curb the slowdown may be feeding through.

The slowdown underlines the pressure that Chinese policy makers face as they attempt to negotiate a deal with the U.S., while balancing the objective of job creation with the need to defuse financial risks at home. Although Chinese negotiators are talking with their U.S. counterparts again, there is no certainty that a deal will be reached in time to prevent further economic damage.

“Growth in the second quarter is quite weak,’ said Ding Shuang, chief China and North Asia economist at Standard Chartered Bank Ltd. in Hong Kong. “But for the rest of the year, we expect a moderate, tempered recovery” due to policy support.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.)