China's economic growth slowed to 7.9 per cent in the first half from the same period in 2000 and could continue to cool in the rest of the year, officials said today.
China's exports have taken a beating from the global economic slowdown, and farmers have struggled with bad weather, putting the onus on the government to boost demand, the national statistics bureau said.
"In the first half of the year, every area and every government department . . . worked hard to overcome problems from the international economy and from serious regional droughts at home," bureau spokesman Mr Ye Zhen said.
The latest growth rate compared with 8.2 per cent in the first half of 2000 and reflected a steadily declining trend this year.
The bureau said China's economy expanded by 7.8 per cent in the second quarter, lower than 8.1 per cent in the first.
The main reason for the moderating growth was exports, which gained just 11.3 per cent in the first six months, a steep decline of 26 percentage points from the first half of 2000.
The statistics bureau suggested the situation could worsen in the coming months but would only say it expected "stable growth" in exports for the year as a whole.
AFP