China’s economic growth slowed to a record low of 6.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2019 as the shock from the protracted trade war with the United States continued to resonate through the world’s second largest economy. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth slid from 6.4 per cent in the first quarter, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. Even during the global financial crisis in 2009, China’s quarterly GDP growth did not dip below 6.4 per cent.
The figure, nonetheless, falls within the range of Beijing’s target growth rate for the year of between 6.0 to 6.5 per cent and was generally expected. The median forecast of a poll of analysts conducted by Bloomberg was 6.2 per cent, but some had predicted worse, with many having deep concerns about the effect of the trade war.
