China's economy grows at weakest rate in Q2 since Coronavirus outbreak
China's economy experienced its worst quarterly performance in more than two years, falling short of forecasts as the country failed to recover from the coronavirus outbreak last spring
China's economy experienced its
worst quarterly performance in more than two years, falling short of forecasts
as the country failed to recover from the coronavirus outbreak last spring.
The Chinese National Bureau of
Statistics said Friday that GDP increased at an annual
pace of 0.4% from April to June. This was much lower than the 4.8% gain
recorded in the previous quarter.
The WSJ polled economists who predicted
that China's GDP will increase by 0.9%. GDP fell 2.6% in the second quarter
as compared to the previous quarter.
Devastation from lockdowns
The magnitude of the delay shows
the devastation inflicted by strict lockdowns that kept millions of Chinese in
their homes for two months and forced many companies to close as officials
attempted to contain a coronavirus outbreak in China's wealthiest metropolis.
China's industrial output increased
by 3.9 % year on year in June, following a 0.7 % increase in May.
Fixed asset investment increased by
6.1 % in the first half of the year, compared to the 6 % projected.
Unemployment in cities
Retail sales increased 3.1 % year
on year in June, the fastest gain in four months, analysts had predicted flat
growth following May's 6.7 % decrease.
Unemployment in China's 31 major
cities declined from pre-pandemic highs to 5.8 % in June, but it soared to 19.3
% for those aged 16 to 24.
“China’s economy is no doubt
bottoming. But it is still in the midst of its recovery,” said Bruce Pang,
chief economist and head of research, Greater China, JLL, CNBC quoted.
Picture Credits: Bloomberg
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