Hong Kong | China’s economy grew at the slowest pace since the country was first hit by the coronavirus outbreak two years ago, underlining the effect the pandemic and Beijing’s strict approach to controlling it has had on growth.

The 0.4 per cent expansion in gross domestic product reported for the second quarter was lower than economists’ forecasts of 1.2 per cent growth and the weakest pace since 2020. This means Beijing will likely miss its goal of about 5.5 per cent growth for the full year by a wide margin, and adds another blow to a global economy hit by recession fears.

Bloomberg