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China’s economy grew 4.7 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, but that was below expectations and the growth rate slowed from the previous three months.
Gross domestic product grew 5.3 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, versus a 5.1 percent increase expected by economists polled by Reuters.
The world’s second-largest economy has been struggling with sluggish consumer demand and a long-term slump in the property market, prompting policymakers to step up intervention in recent months.
Industrial production rose 5.3% in June, but retail sales rose just 2% in the same month, well below expectations.
New home prices in China fell 4.5 percent last month from a year earlier, the fastest decline in nine years, according to Reuters calculations, while new construction starts and property investment fell 23.7 percent and 10.1 percent respectively in the first half of this year.
The data was released as the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee kicked off its Third Plenary Session on Monday, a four-day meeting where the country’s leadership is expected to set the direction for economic policy. Such a meeting was last held in 2018.
Beijing has set its full-year economic growth target at around 5 percent.
