China’s economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in the second quarter as the trade war with the US took its toll on exports. But resilient domestic consumption meant that Beijing was able to avert a deeper slowdown, giving Chinese president Xi Jinping some leeway as he tries to negotiate an end to the dispute with the US. Gross domestic product grew at 6.2 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday. The figure, which was in line with most analysts’ expectations, was the slowest since the NBS began calculating its current series of GDP data in 1992, at the beginning of China’s long bull run.
China reported 6,4 percent growth in the first quarter and 6.6 percent for full-year 2018. Tax cuts enacted earlier in the year helped boost the domestic economy, offsetting the problems with trade, Mao Shengyong, NBS spokesman, told reporters on Monday. “China’s economic growth is more and more reliant on domestic demand, especially on consumption,” Mr. Mao said. US president Donald Trump hailed the latest evidence of a slowdown, saying on Twitter that “United States tariffs are having a major effect on companies wanting to leave China for non-tariffed countries”.
“Thousands of companies are leaving. This is why China wants to make a deal with the US and wishes it had not broken the original deal in the first place,” said Mr. Trump. “In the meantime, we are receiving billions of dollars in tariffs from China and possibly much more to come.”
The CSI 300 index of Shanghai and Shenzhen-listed stocks pared earlier losses to trade 0.9 percent higher after the release of the data, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng benchmark gained 0.2 percent.