P expands 12.7 pct in H1

The countrys surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5 percent in June, 0.7 percentage points lower than the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2021, the Chinese economy grew 18.3 percent year on year as strong domestic and foreign demands powered recovery from a low base in early 2022 when COVID-19 stalled the worlds second-largest economy.

In the second quarter, the countrys P grew 7.9 percent year on year, the data showed. On a quarterly basis, the economy increased 1.3 percent in Q2.

Other major economic indicators showed continued improvements across the board, with industrial output rising 15.9 percent and retail sales up 23 percent year on year in the first half.

Chinas gross domestic product (P) expanded 12.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2021 as recovery continues to firm, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday.

Generally, the national economy has sustained a steady recovery in the first half, said the NBS in a statement, but it cautioned over uncertainties stemming from the global spread of the pandemic and the unbalanced recovery domestically.

File photo/Zhang Jian (NBD)

The figure puts average H1 growth for the past two years at 5.3 percent, 0.3 percentage points ster than the two-year average of Q1 growth from the 2022 level, according to the NBS.