JAKARTA - China's real economic growth slowed to 4.3 percent year-on-year (year-on-year/yoy) in the second quarter of 2026 from 5.0 percent yoy in the previous quarter amid declining public consumption.
Based on official data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China released on Wednesday, July 15, the figure is the slowest growth rate since the fourth quarter of 2022 when China was still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The achievement in the second quarter was below the growth target set by the government of 4.5 to five percent throughout 2026.
On a quarterly basis (quarter-to-quarter/qtq), China's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose 0.9 percent in the second quarter. However, this achievement is also relatively slow compared to the growth in the January-March 2026 period of 1.3 percent qtq.
Despite experiencing a slowdown in economic growth in the second quarter, China's GDP growth in the first half of this year was still recorded within the government's target range as it managed to reach 4.7 percent yoy.
NBS stated that the domestic economic sector "is running within the appropriate range" in the first half of 2026, along with "quality development activities supported by a new and positive spirit."
"However, we must also be aware that the external situation is becoming increasingly unstable and uncertain, the imbalance between strong supply and weak demand is still quite sharp domestically, and the foundations for economic recovery and improvement still need to be consolidated," the statistical agency said. reported by ANTARA from Kyodo.
The GDP data was released a few days after the government set a target to increase total retail sales of consumer goods to around 60 trillion yuan by 2030, up about 20 percent from the 2025 target.
With this target, the government hopes that "the role of consumption in driving economic growth" can strengthen.
In the first half of 2026, retail sales of consumer goods increased 1.3 percent year-on-year to 24.87 trillion yuan.
China's economic growth in the first half of this year was also driven by an increase in exports of electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI) related products to Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
The total value of Chinese industrial exports reached 14.73 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.4 percent year-on-year. Total import value also jumped 22.1 percent year-on-year to 10.73 trillion yuan.
Meanwhile, the weakening of people's purchasing power is seen in the investment sector, especially related to property.
Total investment expenditure for fixed assets, excluding expenditure by rural households, fell 5.7 percent yoy.
Furthermore, if viewed by sector, the realization of investment for real estate development was recorded to have fallen 18.0.
Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected that China's economic growth would slow to 4.6 percent this year from 5.0 percent in 2025. The growth estimate in 2027 is even lower, at only 4.1 percent.
On Monday, July 13, Chinese Premier Li Qiang stressed that economic efforts in the second half of the year would "directly affect the achievement of annual development goals".
He also called for "existing policies to be used fully and effectively" to consolidate the economic momentum.
In its annual parliamentary session in March, China set a GDP growth target for 2026 at the lowest level since the early 1990s amid emerging challenges, including global geopolitical uncertainty.
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