China reports second-quarter GDP growth of 4.7%, missing expectations

BEIJING
—
China’s
National
Bureau
of
Statistics
on
Monday
said
the
country’s
second-quarter
GDP
rose
by
4.7%
year
on
year,
missing
expectations
of
a
5.1%
growth,
according
to
a
Reuters
poll.

June
retail
sales
also
missed
estimates,
rising
2%
compared
with
the
3.3%
growth
forecast.

Industrial
production,
however,
beat
expectations
up
by
5.3%
in
June
from
a
year
ago,
higher
than
Reuters
estimate
of
5%
growth.

Urban
fixed
asset
investment
for
the
first
six
months
of
the
year
rose
by
3.9%,
meeting
expectations.
Investment
in
infrastructure
and
manufacturing
slowed
their
pace
of
growth
on
a
year-to-date
basis
in
June
versus
May,
while
real
estate
investment
declined
at
the
same
10.1%
rate.

The
National
Bureau
of
Statistics
did
not
hold
a
press
conference
for
the
data
release.
China’s
high-level
policy
meeting,
the

Third
Plenum,
kicks
off
Monday
and
is
set
to
wrap
up
Thursday.

“We
must
work
harder
to
invigorate
the
market
and
stimulate
the
internal
impetus,”
the
bureau
said
in
an
English-language
press
release.

It
also
called
for
efforts
to
“consolidate
and
enhance
the
momentum
for
economic
recovery
and
growth,
so
as
to
ensure
the
sustained
and
sound
development
of
the
economy.”

The
urban
unemployment
rate
was
5%
in
June,
unchanged
from
the
prior
month,
the
bureau
said.

China’s
GDP

grew
by
5.3%
year
on-
year
in
the
first
quarter.

China’s
exports
rose
by
a
more-than-expected
8.6%
from
a
year
ago, customs
data
released
Friday showed.
But
imports
fell
by
2.3%
year
on
year
in
June,
missing
expectations
for
slight
growth.

Other
measures
also
pointed
to
muted
domestic
demand.

China’s
consumer
prices
rose
by
0.2% in
June,
year
on
year,
missing
expectations.
Core
CPI,
which
strips
out
more
volatile
food
and
energy
prices,
rose
by
0.6%
year
on
year
in
June,
slightly
slower
than
the
0.7%
increase
in
the
first
six
months
of
the
year.

China’s
latest
credit
data
released
Friday
showed
a
sharp
drop
in
the
growth
of
broad
money
supply
and
new
yuan
loans
in
the
first
half
of
the
year
versus
the
same
period
in
2023.

Household
loans
increased
by
1.46
trillion
yuan
($200
billion)
in
the
first
six
months
of
the
year,
nearly
half
the
2.8
trillion
yuan
in
new
loans
for
the
category
last
year,

according
to
the
People’s
Bank
of
China.

Loans
to
businesses
increased
by
11
trillion
yuan
in
the
first
half
of
the
year,
slightly
less
than
the
12.81
trillion
yuan
recorded
for
the
same
period
last
year.

“June
money
and
credit
data
indicated
credit
demand
remained
weak,”
Goldman
Sachs
analysts
said
in
a
report
Friday.
“The
recent
policy
communication
suggests
that
the
PBOC
continues
to
focus
on
enhancing
monetary
policy
transmission
and
downplay
the
importance
of
aggregate
credit
growth.
Looking
ahead,
the
growth
of
new
CNY
loans
and
M2
may
gradually
slow
down
further.”