China reports second-quarter GDP growth of 4.7%, missing expectations

BEIJING — China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Monday said the country’s second-quarter GDP rose by 4.7% year on year, missing expectations of a 5.1% growth, according to a Reuters poll.

June retail sales also missed estimates, rising 2% compared with the 3.3% growth forecast.

Industrial production, however, beat expectations up by 5.3% in June from a year ago, higher than Reuters estimate of 5% growth.

Urban fixed asset investment for the first six months of the year rose by 3.9%, meeting expectations. Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing slowed their pace of growth on a year-to-date basis in June versus May, while real estate investment declined at the same 10.1% rate.

The National Bureau of Statistics did not hold a press conference for the data release. China’s high-level policy meeting, the Third Plenum, kicks off Monday and is set to wrap up Thursday.

“We must work harder to invigorate the market and stimulate the internal impetus,” the bureau said in an English-language press release.

It also called for efforts to “consolidate and enhance the momentum for economic recovery and growth, so as to ensure the sustained and sound development of the economy.”

The urban unemployment rate was 5% in June, unchanged from the prior month, the bureau said.

China’s GDP grew by 5.3% year on- year in the first quarter.

China’s exports rose by a more-than-expected 8.6% from a year ago, customs data released Friday showed. But imports fell by 2.3% year on year in June, missing expectations for slight growth.

Other measures also pointed to muted domestic demand.

China’s consumer prices rose by 0.2% in June, year on year, missing expectations. Core CPI, which strips out more volatile food and energy prices, rose by 0.6% year on year in June, slightly slower than the 0.7% increase in the first six months of the year.

Household loans increased by 1.46 trillion yuan ($200 billion) in the first six months of the year, nearly half the 2.8 trillion yuan in new loans for the category last year, according to the People’s Bank of China.

Loans to businesses increased by 11 trillion yuan in the first half of the year, slightly less than the 12.81 trillion yuan recorded for the same period last year.

“June money and credit data indicated credit demand remained weak,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a report Friday. “The recent policy communication suggests that the PBOC continues to focus on enhancing monetary policy transmission and downplay the importance of aggregate credit growth. Looking ahead, the growth of new CNY loans and M2 may gradually slow down further.”