China’s economy slowed sharply to a 4.3% annual pace of growth in the April-June quarter, according to the latest data released by the government on Wednesday.

The rate, which came in under the government’s target of 4.5% to 5%, was one of the weakest since the country began reporting on official quarterly GDP figures in the early 1990s.

The last period growth became weaker was the final quarter of 2022 when the country experienced its three-year period of Covid-19 restrictions.

The National Bureau of Statistics of China released the data on Wednesday after official customs figures for June showed soaring exports as outbound shipments increased by 27%.

A protracted crisis in the property sector and a persistent slump in domestic spending left leaders dependent on exports to meet growth targets.

“In the first half of the year, the national economy operated within a reasonable range,” the NBS said.

Noting that there were many unstable and uncertain external factors, the NBS stated that the domestic contradiction of strong supply and weak demand was prominent. 

“The foundation for the economy to improve still needs to be consolidated,” it added.

According to the released data, retail sales grew 1.0 year-on-year in June, beating a Bloomberg forecast of a 0.1 per cent drop.

While the industrial production rose to 5.3 per cent last month, fixed-asset investment pegged 5.7 per cent on-year in the first half.

Macroeconomic analyst Zhang Zhiwei said the Chinese government was unlikely to change its policy stance in the coming months as a result of the latest figures.

“We need to keep in mind that the first-quarter GDP growth was strong at five percent. This means the government is still on track to deliver growth in line with the official (annual) target they set at 4.5-5 percent,” Mr Zhang stated.