WATCH: Helen Qiao of BofA Global Research discusses what the GDP figures say about the state of the world’s second-largest economy. Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast . China’s economic rebound steadied in the second quarter and showed more balance as consumer spending picked up, providing support to a global recovery being shaken by resurging coronavirus cases. Gross domestic product in the world’s second-largest economy expanded 7.9% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday, down from 18.3% in the previous quarter, with that slowdown largely reflecting base effects from last year’s pandemic. On a two-year average growth basis which strips out that effect, the economy grew 5.5% last quarter, slightly higher than in the previous three months. A June pickup in retail sales and stronger investment by manufacturers fueled optimism that China’s growth is becoming […]