BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s economy grew at a frail pace in the second quarter, although the annual figure was flattered by base effects, data showed on Monday, with overall momentum faltering rapidly due to weakening demand at home and abroad.
Gross domestic product grew just 0.8% in April-June from the previous quarter, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed, versus analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 0.5% increase and compared with a 2.2% expansion in the first quarter.
On a year-on-year basis, GDP expanded 6.3% in the second quarter, accelerating from 4.5% in the first three months of the year, but the rate was below the forecast for growth of 7.3%.
The annual pace was the quickest since the second quarter of 2021, but the reading was heavily skewed by economic pains caused by stringent COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and other major cities last year.
Recent data showed a rapidly faltering post-COVID recovery as exports fell the most in three years due to cooling demand at home and abroad and a prolonged downturn in the key property market, raising expectations policymakers will need to do more to shore up the world’s second-biggest economy.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao, Ellen Zhang and Joe Cash; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
