SHANGHAI — China’s gross domestic product growth slowed to 7.9% in the April-to-June quarter after plateauing at 18.3% in the previous three months, signaling a halt to the V-shaped recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thursday’s figure, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, beat the median 7.7% expansion forecast by 29 economists in a Nikkei poll.
The swift deceleration was underlined by a 0.5% cut to banks’ reserve requirements, effective Thursday, which is aimed at increasing lending to small and medium-size enterprises.
Only 26% of Chinese companies surveyed in June predicted a rise in business activity over the next year, down slightly from 28% in February, according to a business outlook by IHS Markit released on Monday. That was lower than the global average of 38%.
The survey blamed risk factors including uncertainty over the course of the pandemic and expectations for higher business costs.
China’s second-quarter growth was underpinned by exports as its trading partners eased lockdown measures and vaccination drives picked up steam. In dollar terms, exports grew 31% while imports jumped 43% despite sporadic coronavirus outbreaks in the manufacturing powerhouse of Guangdong Province.
But Chinese customs officials warned that trade might slow down in the coming months due to the effects of high growth last year and ongoing uncertainties brought by the pandemic.