Photo taken on June 15, 2015 shows a motorcar production line in Sichuan Yema Automobile Co., Ltd in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. (Photo: Xinhua/Xue Yubin)
China's economy posted a better-than-expected growth of 7 percent in the second quarter of 2015, as the filtering through of the government's pro-growth policies and reform measures pave way for steady improvement in the latter half of the year.
Second-quarter GDP expanded 7 percent year on year, unchanged from the first quarter. It grew 1.7 percent over the previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Wednesday.
The growth rate beat a median market forecast of 6.9 percent for the second quarter, as authorities cited "positive signs" in the economy.
The better-than-expected growth has come after the government's bold moves in macro-control and adherence to structural reforms as the economy plateaus, NBS spokesperson Sheng Laiyun said at a press conference.
"Policies rolled out by central authorities to stabilize growth, boost reforms and restructuring, improve livelihoods and prevent risks have played significant roles for the economy," Sheng said.
These measures included three cuts in both benchmark interest rates and banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) in the first half, and the government's accelerated fiscal spending on infrastructure to shore up investment.
With these efforts, the national economy has stayed "in the proper range" in the first half as major economic indicators gradually recovered, indicating stabilization and improvement, Sheng said, citing steady employment and price levels.
More than seven million new jobs were created in urban areas in the first half, with a target of 10 million for the year, while inflation rose only 1.3 percent during the period.
During the same period, industrial output grew 6.3 percent year on year and fixed-asset investment climbed 11.4 percent. Property investment grew 4.6 percent, while retail sales of consumer goods rose 10.4 percent.
In the first half of the year, the nation's GDP hit 29.7 trillion yuan (4.9 trillion U.S. dollars), up 7 percent year on year.
MORE BALANCED GROWTH
Zhu Zhenxin, an analyst with Minsheng Securities, said the services sector became a main economic driver, growing 8.4 percent in the first half, outpacing the general GDP growth.
The sector accounted for 49.5 percent of the GDP in the first half, up 2.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Sheng said this suggested a continuing transition of China's economic structure that used to be dominated by secondary industry.
Consumption also played a bigger role in boosting growth as it contributed 60 percent to first-half GDP growth, up 5.7 percentage points compared to the same period last year, Sheng said.
As the government seeks to create an easier environment for business by simplifying administrative approval procedures, private businesses have boomed. Industrial output in the country's privately-owned sector expanded 8.1 percent in the first half while private investment grew 11.4 percent year on year, accounting for 65.1 percent of the total.
