China’s Economic Growth Comes in Worse Than Expected, Adding Pressure on Xi
- GDP expansion slowest in five quarters as demand struggles
- Third Plenum meeting in focus after disappointing data
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China’s growth unexpectedly slowed to the worst pace in five quarters as faltering consumer spending undermined an export boom, putting pressure on policymakers to step up support at a twice-a-decade economic meeting this week.
Gross domestic product expanded 4.7% in the second quarter from the same period a year earlier, weaker than all except one of 28 estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Retail sales rose at the slowest monthly pace since December 2022, showing a flurry of government efforts to juice confidence have done little to reinvigorate the Chinese consumer.