China's gross domestic product grew 5.3 percent year on year in the first half of 2025, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Tuesday.

For the second quarter of the year, GDP expanded 5.2 percent.

Retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of consumption strength, expanded 5 percent year on year in the first half, while fixed-asset investment rose 2.8 percent.

The nation's surveyed urban unemployment rate on average stood at 5.2 percent, while the per capita disposable income went up 5.3 percent in nominal terms.

China's value-added industrial output expanded 6.8 percent year on year in June.

And the decline in the prices of commercial residential homes in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities continues to narrow on a year-on-year basis for the month.

"The national economy withstood pressure and made steady improvement despite challenges," NBS deputy director Sheng Laiyun told a news conference.

"Production and demand grew steadily, employment was generally stable, household income continued to increase, new growth drivers witnessed robust development, and high-quality development made new strides."

Commenting on the figures, Xu Tianchen, a senior economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing, said the better-than-expected performances were supported by resilient exports as well as stimulus measures taken by Beijing from the beginning of the year to prop up investment and consumer spending.

"Although in the second half of the year, growth is likely to slow down, the government's 5 percent growth target for the year is still within reach," he said.

Xu also noted that slower retail sales growth last month – from May's 6.4 percent to 4.8 percent – might be caused by "temporary exhaustion" of subsidies, as well as the fading effects of the "618" major shopping festival on the mainland.

"The [618] shopping festival came earlier this year, and many online platforms had already started their promotions in early May, so sales were front loaded earlier before June.

"But in the coming months, we might see an improvement as the government has already issued new bonds to support such subsidies, and such funding will be dispersed to local governments to support consumption growth again.

"Demand is not the real problem, but it's about the price declines due to intense competition between merchants and producers, or what we called 'Neijuan' in Chinese, 'involutions' between these firms."

Looking ahead, Xu lowered expectations for stronger measures from Beijing despite a key Politburo meeting scheduled to be held this month, noting that authorities might not feel an urgency to act due to the latest "decent" figures. (Agencies)
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Last updated: 2025-07-15 HKT 13:43