China’s Economic Growth in The First Half Of The Year Hard Won

Aug 16, 2022

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Foreign media reported that China’s economy grew by 0.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year. In the first half of this year, China’s economy grew by 2.5% year-on-year at constant prices. China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the latest economic results were “hard won”.

According to the report of EFE news agency on July 15, the official data released by China’s National Bureau of statistics on Friday showed that China’s economy grew by 0.4% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year. At constant prices, China’s economy grew by 2.5% in the first half of the year. Other indicators announced on the same day include: in May, the added value of Industrial Enterprises above Designated Size first realized a negative to positive growth, with a year-on-year growth of 0.7%, and the growth rate accelerated to 3.9% in June. As an important indicator of consumption, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the second quarter decreased by 4.6% year on year. However, the index changed from a decrease to an increase in June, with a year-on-year increase of 3.1% and a month on month increase of 0.53%.

According to the report, as the world’s second largest economy, China’s growth in the second quarter fell back from the 4.8% year-on-year growth in the first quarter of this year. During this period, the Omicron variant of novel coronavirus caused an epidemic rebound in many regions of China, forcing many important cities and regions, including Shanghai, to adopt strict closure and control measures.

According to the website of US consumer news and business channel, China’s GDP in the second quarter increased by 0.4% compared with the same period last year as the economy struggled to get rid of the impact of the control measures of COVID-19.

According to the report, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 3.1% in June, recovering after the drop in the previous month and exceeding the expectation of zero year-on-year growth. In the first half of this year, fixed asset investment also exceeded expectations, with a year-on-year growth of 6.1%, higher than the expected 6%.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said that the latest economic results were “hard won” achievements, but at the same time, it warned that the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in China “has not been completely eliminated” and “demand has shrunk”.

The report quoted Fu Linghui, spokesman of the National Bureau of statistics, as saying that the economic indicators in the second quarter stopped the downward trend. He called the impact of COVID-19 “short-term”, and stressed that China’s inflation is far lower than that of the United States and Europe. Fu Linghui said that there are “challenges” in achieving the annual economic growth target.

Pang Ming, director and chief economist of Greater China Research Department of JLL, said: “China’s economy is undoubtedly in the ‘bottoming out stage’, but it is still recovering.”

He said that policy makers are expected to maintain a relaxed stance in order to help the economy achieve a moderate recovery in the second half of this year.

According to the associated press, analysts believe that Beijing is using prudent and targeted stimulus measures instead of comprehensive spending, and this strategy will take longer to take effect. China does not want too much spending to push up house prices or corporate debt.

In addition, China also faces the unfavorable factors of weak global demand. Exports in June surged by 17.9% compared with a year ago, but forecasters said that this reflected that the port was clearing cargo after the elimination of the epidemic restrictions. They say growth is likely to “fall back”.

Analysts at S & P Global Markets Finance intelligence said that the slowdown in economic growth in the United States and Europe “may weaken the demand for Chinese manufacturing exports”.

Germany’s business daily is concerned that China has launched a package of policy measures to support the economy. Latin American news agency said that China will take new measures to ensure the employment of migrant workers and young people (mainly university graduates) who are facing difficulties in finding jobs under the circumstances of COVID-19 and economic slowdown.