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Hong Kong
CNN
—
China reported better-than-expected economic growth for the second quarter in the face of an ongoing trade war with the United States, as diversification efforts to non-US markets buoyed exports.
Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 5.2% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) at a press conference on Tuesday. That was higher than the average predictions of 5.1%, based on a poll of 40 economists surveyed by Reuters on Friday.
The GDP growth in the second quarter was a slowdown from a 5.4% expansion in the first three months of the year. Together, GDP growth for the first half of the year compared to the same period last year stood at 5.3%, according to the NBS.
China’s economy remains under mounting external and internal pressure to meet its ambitious target of “around 5%” growth set for this year, a goal economists believe will be tough to achieve without further policy support.
US President Donald Trump’s tariff offensive – which at one point reached 145% on Chinese imports – has upended what is arguably the world’s most consequential bilateral trade relationship. Under a May truce that scaled back the triple-digit tariffs, Beijing has less than a month, until August 12, to secure a permanent deal with Washington.
For China’s export-reliant economy, much hinges on the tariff rate ultimately agreed upon. Even a double-digit levy would carry a profound and lasting implications for Chinese manufacturers – a key pillar of the country’s economic engine.
Domestically, the Chinese economy continues to be weighed down by a host of structural challenges, including a prolonged property crisis, soaring youth unemployment, sluggish consumption and persistent deflation.
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