China’s economy records steady growth in H1
China’s economy continued steady expansion in the first half of this year with GDP up 6.9 percent year on year to about 38.2 trillion yuan ($5.6 trillion), data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on July 17.
The reading is well above the government’s target for the year of 6.5 percent.
In the second quarter, GDP held steady at 6.9 percent year on year, flat from the first quarter.
On a quarterly basis, the economy grew 1.7 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter.
Industrial output expanded 6.9 percent year on year in the first six months, against 6 percent in the same period last year. Retail sales of consumer goods grew 10.4 percent year on year, up from 10 percent for the first quarter.
Fixed-asset investment grew 8.6 percent year on year in the first half, while private sector investment was up 7.2 percent to 17 trillion yuan, accounting for 60.7 percent of the total.
The service sector, already accounting for 54.1 percent of the overall economy, expanded 7.7 percent year on year in the first half, outpacing a 3.5 percent increase in primary industries and 6.4 percent in secondary industries.
Industrial capacity utilization stood at 76.4 percent in the first half, up 3.4 percentage points from a year ago.
Some 7.35 million new jobs were created in China’s urban regions from January to June, 180,000 more than the same period last year, while per capita disposable income grew 8.8 percent.
China aims to create more than 11 million jobs this year, 1 million more than last year’s target.
Information at the official Site of the State Council of the People's Republic of China