Chinese economic growth held steady in the second quarter, as stimulus measures and increased lending helped the economy to contain any further slowdown.
Gross domestic product expanded 6.7 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, the same rate as seen in the prior period, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday.
The growth was slightly better than the 6.6 percent growth forecast by economists and within the government's full year target of 6.5-7 percent. In 2015, the economy grew at the slowest pace in 25 years.
On a quarterly basis, GDP advanced 1.8 percent in the second quarter, which was faster than the consensus estimate for 1.6 percent growth.
The upshot is that there is no immediate threat to growth in China, Daniel Martin, a senior Asia economist at Capital Economics, said.
With credit still expanding rapidly, the economist still thinks growth is more likely to accelerate than slow in the next few quarters.
However, the economist said any turnaround would be short-lived and, with structural issues still unresolved, a renewed slowdown over the next couple of years is looking increasingly likely.
In the first half of the year, GDP advanced 6.7 percent from last year. Consumption accounted for 73.4 percent of GDP growth in the first half.
Separate reports from NBS today showed that industrial production and retail sales logger faster growth in June, while fixed asset investment growth slowed.
The annual growth in industrial production accelerated to 6.2 percent in June from 6 percent in May, while it was forecast to ease to 5.9 percent.
Similarly, retail sales rose at a faster pace of 10.6 percent after rising 10 percent in May. This was the fastest growth seen so far this year. Economists had forecast a 9.9 percent increase.
In six months to June, fixed asset investment rose 9 percent compared to the 9.6 percent increase in the five months to May. In the same period, property investment climbed 6.1 percent versus 7 percent in the January to May period.
Elsewhere, the finance ministry said the government boosted spending by 19.9 percent in June versus a 17.6 percent increase in May.
Data from the People's Bank of China today showed that aggregate financing totaled CNY 1.63 trillion in June, above the expected level of CNY 1.1 trillion.
by RTT Staff Writer
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