China’s second-quarter growth suggests ‘uneven’ economic recovery

GDP expands 7.9 percent but high costs for raw materials and supply chain constraints curb momentum.

China’s economy grew more slowly than expected in the second quarter, according to official data, as slowing manufacturing activity, higher raw material costs and new COVID-19 outbreaks weighed on the country’s recovery. Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.9 percent in the April-June quarter from a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday, below expectations for a rise of 8.1 percent in a Reuters news agency poll of economists. Growth slowed significantly from a record 18.3 percent expansion in the January-March period, when the year-on-year growth rate was heavily skewed by the COVID-19-induced slump in the first quarter of 2020.