China GDP growth slows to 4.7% in Q2, misses estimates
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The news: China’s economy grew 4.7% year on year during the second quarter, below analyst’s predictions of 5.1% and first-quarter growth of 5.3%.
The numbers: The country's June retail sales growth of 2% also missed estimates of 3.3%. It was also below 3.7% growth in May. Bloomberg reported that the June figure was the slowest since December 2022.
The context: The National Bureau of Statistics of China acknowledged the country's insufficient domestic demand but said the economy's long-term fundamentals were stable.
China has been experiencing an economic slowdown as a result of a real estate crisis, high debt, and an ageing and shrinking population. Since the onset of the slowdown in 2024, China’s policymakers have sought to stimulate domestic demand and have targeted an annual GDP growth rate of 5%.
Analysts believe the government’s measures may be lagging, with more stimulus required to meet its targets.
With China being the largest importer of Australian goods, the impact of the slowdown may be felt through trade price channels.
What they said: "... the national economy was generally stable with steady progress, featuring steady increase of production, sustained recovery of demand, generally stable employment and prices, continued increase of household income, accelerating growth of new driving forces and new achievements of the high-quality development," the bureau said.
The sources: National Bureau of Statistics of China press release, Reuters, Bloomberg
