MNI DATA IMPACT: China Q2 GDP Jumps 3.2%, Reversing Q1 Fall

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's GDP surged 3.2% y/y in Q2, sharply reversing the

6.8% drop in Q1 and outperforming the 2.6% gain projected by economists,

according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on

Thursday. 

     "The rebound in Q2 is still a recovery growth," said NBS spokeswoman Liu

Aihua. "The losses caused by the coronavirus epidemic have not been fully

compensated, and it will take hard work to push the economy back to normal."

     Here are some of the data highlights: 

     - Industrial production grew for the third month at 4.8% in June,

accelerating from the 4.4% gain in May, and in line with the forecast. The

accumulated growth for the first half of the year remained negative at -1.3%

y/y, narrowing from the 8.4% fall in Q1.

     - Retail sales fell 1.8% y/y in June, recovering from the 2.8% decline in

May, but still shy of the 0.0% projected result. Retail sales fell 11.4% y/y for

the first half, a pickup from Q1's 19% slump. 

     - Fixed-asset Investment fell 3.1% y/y for the first half, narrowing from

the 6.3% fall in the Jan-May period and better than the -3.5% projection. This

was partly due to the slow recovery in manufacturing investment, which fell

11.7% y/y after the 14.8% decline in Jan-May.

     - Infrastructure investment growth recovered to -2.7% y/y in the Jan-June

period from the 6.3% fall in the first five months. Meanwhile, property

investment growth turned positive for the first time this year to grow 1.9% y/y,

up from the previous -0.3%.

     - Registered urban unemployment decelerated to 5.7% in June from May's

5.9%. The rate in 31 major cities also edged down 0.1 percentage point to 5.8%

from the previous month. 

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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