China’s huge economy is cooling just as trade tensions with the United States are heating up.
The world’s second-biggest economy grew by 6.7% in the second quarter of the year.
That was slightly lower than the previous quarter and is China’s slowest rate of quarterly growth in almost two years.
The official figures released Monday suggest China is still on track to meet the government’s 2018 target of about 6.5%, although the intensifying trade clash with the United States means the rate of growth is likely to continue to slow this year.
Analysts have previously forecast that trade tensions could shave up to 0.5 percentage points off Chinese growth this year, depending on the intensity of tariffs.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration and China imposed tariffs of 25% on $34 billion of each other’s exports. US tariffs on an additional $16 billion of Chinese goods are coming soon.
