China Q2 GDP misses expectations

China's second-quarter gross domestic product grew by 6.3% year on year, missing expectations, according to official data published on Monday.

The print for the second quarter marked a 0.8% pace of growth from the first quarter and was well behind the 7.3% increase in second quarter GDP forecast by analysts..

National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Fu Linghui said the country could still achieve its full-year growth target of around 5% growth for 2023.

In other data, retail sales for June rose by 3.1%, slightly below the 3.2% expected, and industrial production for June rose by 4.4% from a year ago, better than the 2.7% forecast.

The unemployment rate among young people aged 16 - 24 was 21.3% in June, a new record.

Fixed asset investment for the first half of the year rose 3.8%, better than the 3.5% predicted. Investment into real estate fell further on a year-to-date basis in June than in May. Investment in manufacturing grew at a steady pace, while growth in infrastructure investment slowed.

"The domestic demand revival is losing steam after the initial release of pent-up demand built during the zero-Covid policy era, while exports are falling amid ebbing global demand," said analysts at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

£Chinese policymakers are worried about the fading domestic demand recovery and pondering over the appropriate stimulus package to ensure GDP growth is on track to reach the “about 5%” annual target. Their gameplan when China reopened at the start of this year was to rely more on a private sector-driven recovery than in previous cycles. But households are worried about jobs and income prospects, and broad economic uncertainties."

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com