China's economy expanded faster than expected in the second quarter, setting the country on course to comfortably meet its 2017 growth target and giving policymakers room to tackle big economic challenges ahead of key leadership changes later this year.
The boost to growth was in part driven by firmer exports and production, in particular steel, which could heighten trade tensions as the United States and China begin economic talks this week. U.S. President Donald Trump has made the U.S. trade deficit with China a top agenda item in bilateral talks and has also flagged the steel trade as a point of contention.
China's gross domestic product rose 6.9 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the same rate as the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. That was higher than analysts' expectations of a 6.8 percent expansion.