Sluggish economic data from China is fuelling fears that the country’s rebound from its strict Covid-19 lockdown policies is starting to splutter.
Official figures published in Beijing showed that the world’s second largest economy expanded by just 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of the year, having grown by 2.2 per cent over the previous three months.
On an annual basis, output was 6.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, well below analyst expectations of a 7.3 per cent rise.
Such growth rates are figures that the UK and other advanced economies can only dream of.
But the worse-than-expected performance has sparked fears that China’s boom over the last three decades – which has helped to fuel global economic expansion – is running out of steam.
Slowdown: China’s economy expanded by just 0.8% in the second quarter of the year having grown by 2.2% over the previous three months
Another longer-term concern is the country’s steadily rising youth unemployment rate, which hit a record high of 21.3 per cent in June – up from 20.8 per cent in May – as Chinese graduates struggled to find jobs.
There are also concerns that increasing numbers are taking a break from China’s relentless work culture.
Sheana Yue, China economist at Capital Economics, said the GDP data showed that the post-pandemic recovery was ‘fizzling out’ and there were currently few signs of activity picking up across the rest of the year.
She said given the ‘bleak’ backdrop, policymakers were likely to make further moves to stabilise the economy, with mea
