China’s economy grew at the slowest pace since the country was first hit by the coronavirus outbreak two years ago, underlining the impact the pandemic and Beijing’s strict approach to controlling it has had on growth.
The 0.4% expansion in gross domestic product reported for the second quarter was lower than economists’ forecasts of 1.2% growth and the weakest pace since 2020. That means Beijing will likely miss its goal of about 5.5% growth for the full year by a wide margin, and adds another blow to a global economy hit by recession fears.
Official data showed the economy improved in June as coronavirus cases fell and the government cut taxes and accelerated infrastructure spending. However, Chinese President Xi Jinping remains committed to his "COVID zero" approach to stamping out infections and some cities have recently seen cases of the highly-infectious BA.5 subvariant, suggesting more lockdowns could occur.