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China’s economy lost momentum in the second quarter, with gross domestic product expanding 0.8 per cent against the previous three months as falling exports, weak retail sales and a moribund property sector weighed on growth.
The difficulties facing the world’s second-largest economy will put further pressure on global growth and add to calls for Beijing to step up stimulus measures more than six months after China abandoned tough Covid-19 controls.
The second-quarter growth rate was stronger than 0.5 per cent forecast by a Reuters analyst poll but weaker than a 2.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter expansion in the January-March period.
On a year-on-year basis, the economy grew 6.3 per cent in the second quarter because of a low-base effect last year, when large cities including Shanghai were locked down for an extended period. The Reuters poll had predicted a 7.3 per cent growth rate.
Youth unemployment for those aged 16 to 24 hit a new high of 21.3 per cent in the second quarter.
