China posts slowest quarterly growth since 2022 as investment slumps, fanning stimulus calls

• China's economy in the second quarter expanded at its weakest pace since the fourth quarter of 202. It’s reinforcing calls for policy stimulus as an accelerating slide in investments deepened the strain on growth, while consumption stayed subdued. Gross domestic product growth came in at 4.3% in the April to June period, data from the National Statistics Bureau showed Wednesday. It missed economists' forecast for 4.5% growth in a Reuters poll, and slowed from 5% in the first quarter.
• Urban fixed-asset investment, including real estate development and infrastructure projects, declined 5.7% in the first six months from a year earlier, worse than expectations for a 4.9% drop in a Reuters poll. The investment in real estate, infrastructure and manufacturing plunged 18%, 2.4% and 1.2%, respectively, according to the official data.
• In June, China's retail sales grew 1%, rebounding from a 0.6% drop in the prior month and exceeding economists' forecast for a 0.1% fall. Retail sales in May posted their first monthly decline since late 2022, dragged down by tepid demand and merchants' steep discounting.
  Industrial output expanded 5.3% in June from a year ago, stronger than the forecast 4.7% growth, and gaining pace from a 4.5% expansion in May.
• China's export growth beat expectations in June, clocking the strongest rise since late 2021, powered by demand for chips, computers and parts, and power equipment.
  The export strength, however, is straining ties with trade partners. China's surplus with the European Union widened 24% in the first half, according to Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie, driven by machinery and vehicle shipments.
• Chinese urban unemployment rate, which excludes those who leave cities for rural areas, remained steady at 5% in June. A separate survey, which counted people who have been jobless for the past two years and are no longer covered in the official labour force survey, showed China's broad unemployment rate at a much higher 10.2%. More than half of the roughly 24 million long-term unemployed are aged 16 to 24.

(Source: CNBC)