Arabic version: تباطؤ نمو الناتج المحلي الإجمالي للصين إلى 4.3%، أقل من هدف بكين

China’s economic expansion cooled sharply in the second quarter, with official figures showing GDP growth of 4.3%, below Beijing’s annual target and down from a 5% rise in the first quarter.

According to BBC News, the slowdown occurred between the start of April and the end of June, a period when weak domestic demand and the Iran war’s impact on oil prices overshadowed the country’s strong exports.

The government cut its annual growth target in March to a range of 4.5%–5%, its lowest economic expansion goal since 1991, a move some analysts say gives officials more flexibility in managing the economy. The quarter reported is the first full quarter of GDP data since the start of the Iran war on 28 February and marked the lowest quarterly expansion since the end of 2022, as China was emerging from its strict Covid-19 restrictions.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said: “The are more external instability and uncertainty factors,” and it also noted an imbalance between strong supply and weak domestic demand. Separate data highlighted domestic strains: new home prices contracted again, with a 0.1% fall in June at a slightly slower pace than the previous month, while retail sales rose by 1% in June, improving from a 0.6% decrease in May.

Trade data painted a contrasting picture. Government customs figures showed exports jumped by 27% in June year-on-year. Customs data for June said China’s tech exports were boosted by soaring global demand for semiconductors to power artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, and surging demand for Chinese electric vehicles helped push monthly car exports above one million for the first time.

Some analysts say the lower growth target gives officials more flexibility in managing the economy.

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