BEIJING – China said Monday that second-quarter gross domestic product grew 6.3% from a year earlier, below expectations.
The unemployment rate among 16-24 year olds was 21.3% in June, a new record.
The GDP figure of 6.3% for the second quarter marked a growth rate of 0.8% compared to the first quarter, slower than the quarter-on-quarter rate of 2.2% recorded in the first three months of the year. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a 7.3% rise in second-quarter GDP.
National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Fu Linghui noted that China faces a complex geopolitical and economic international environment. He also said that China can still achieve its growth target for the full year. Beijing in March set a growth target of around 5% for 2023.
June retail sales rose 3.1%, slightly below the 3.2% expected. Within retail sales, those of catering, sports and entertainment products along with alcohol and tobacco are the ones that rise the most. Automobiles, office products and everyday items all experienced lower sales in June from a year earlier. Online sales of physical goods grew 6.7% in June from a year earlier, slower than in May, according to CNBC’s calculations of official data accessed by Wind Information.
June industrial production rose 4.4% from a year earlier, better than the 2.7% forecast.
Investment in fixed assets for the first half of the year increased by 3.8%, better than the 3.5% forecast. Within fixed asset investment, real estate investment fell more year-to-date in June than in May. Manufacturing investment grew steadily, while infrastructure investment growth slowed.
The unemployment rate for people in cities was 5.2% in June.
China ended its Covid-19 checks in December. An initial economic rebound has run out of steam. the massive the real estate sector has had problems to recover while exports have plummeted due to the drop in global demand.
Within China, lackluster consumer demand has led to no change in prices in June. He People’s Bank of China said last week that he expected a dip in julybut forecast inflation would recover by the end of this year.
Domestic travel has been a bright spot in the recovery. Urban residents more than doubled their tourism spending in the first half of the year from a year earlier, to 1.98 trillion yuan ($280 billion), according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. However, he said rural residents’ travel spending only rose about 40% during that time.
The combined first half total of 2.3 trillion yuan was lower than the 2.78 trillion yuan reported for the first six months of 2019, before the pandemic, official data showed.
Beijing said last week it would extend property support measures. The authorities have also announced broad support for exports. The country has also Extended tax breaks for electric car purchasesa growing industry that the government wishes to support.
But Beijing has shown otherwise. reluctance to embark on further stimulationespecially since local government debt has skyrocketed. A Politburo meeting scheduled for later this month could provide more details on economic policy.
