On July 12, 2024, cars made in China are waiting to be shipped for export at Yantai Port, Shandong Province, China.
VCG | Visual China Group | Getty Images
BEIJING – China’s second-quarter GDP grew at an annual rate of 4.7%, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, below expectations of 5.1%, according to a Reuters poll.
Retail sales in June also fell short of expectations, growing 2% versus expectations for 3.3% growth.
However, industrial production rose 5.3% in June from a year earlier, beating expectations and higher than Reuters’ forecast of a 5% increase.
Urban fixed asset investment grew by 3.9% from January to June, in line with expectations. Compared with May, the annual growth rate of infrastructure and manufacturing investment slowed down in June, while real estate investment also fell by 10.1%.
The National Bureau of Statistics did not hold a press conference on the release of the data. China high-level policy meeting The Third Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee opens on Monday and is scheduled to end on Thursday.
“We must work harder to stimulate market vitality and stimulate endogenous power,” the bureau said in an English press release.
The meeting also called for “consolidating and enhancing the momentum of economic recovery and ensuring sustained and healthy economic development.”
The Bureau of Statistics said the urban unemployment rate was 5% in June, the same as last month.
China’s gross domestic product Annual increase of 5.3% In the first season.
China’s exports increased by 8.6% year-on-year, exceeding expectations Customs data released on Friday show. However, imports fell by 2.3% year-on-year in June, falling short of small growth expectations.
Other measures also point to weak domestic demand.
China’s consumer prices rose 0.2% In June, year-on-year, it fell short of expectations. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.6% in June from a year earlier, slightly lower than the 0.7% increase in the first six months of this year.
Credit demand is weak
China’s latest credit data released on Friday showed that broad money supply and the growth rate of new RMB loans fell sharply in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2023.
Home loans grew by 1.46 trillion yuan ($200 billion) in the first six months of this year, nearly half of the 2.8 trillion yuan in new loans in the category last year. According to the People’s Bank of China.
Corporate loans increased by 11 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, slightly lower than the 12.81 trillion yuan in the same period last year.
“June monetary and credit data suggest credit demand remains weak,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note on Friday. “Recent policy communications indicate that the central bank continues to focus on strengthening monetary policy transmission and downplaying the importance of total credit growth. Looking ahead, the growth rate of new RMB loans and M2 may further gradually slow down.”
