Beijing : China’s GDP grew by 7 % in the second quarter, its weakest growth since the global financial crisis in 2009, beating forecast of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy rattled by the recent stock market crash and falling exports. In the first half of this year, the gross domestic product (GDP) hit 29.7 trillion yuan (USD 4.9 trillion) up 7 % year-on-year, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
China’s economy, a key driver of world growth, expanded 7.4 % last year, slower than the 7.7 % in 2013. However, the crash of the Shanghai Composite – which lost almost a third of its value in the three weeks from mid-June – has raised questions about the government’s ability to manage the economy, which is slowing down after years of double-digit GDP growth. Investment in China’s property sector rose 4.6 per cent year-on-year to 4.4 trillion yuan (USD 708.8 billion) in the first half.
