BANGKOK (AP) — China’s economy expanded at a slower-than-forecast 4.7% annual rate in the last quarter, the government reported Monday, while emphasizing signs of improvement in factory output, income and investment.
That was sharply below the 5.3% annual pace of growth seen in the first quarter of the year.
Economists say weak consumer demand and reduced government spending are dragging on growth in the world’s No. 2 economy.
The National Bureau of Statistics said the economy grew at a 5% pace in the first half of the year, at the target set by the government for around 5% growth.
The update came as leaders of the ruling Communist Party gathered for a once-a-decade conclave to set economic policy that was expected to focus on self-sufficient strategies for growth in an era of tensions over trade and technology.
The four-day meeting of the Communist Party’s 205-member Central Committee is the third plenary session of a five-year term that started in 2022. This year’s meeting was expected to be held last year, but was delayed.
Such meetings typically focus on long-term issues, but business owners and investors are watching to see if the party announces any immediate measures to try to counter a prolonged downturn in the property market and persistent malaise that has suppressed China’s post-COVID-19 recovery.