China’s economy expanded more than 5 percent in the second quarter, official data showed yesterday, buoyed by strong exports, but analysts said that more work was needed to address sluggish consumer demand.
The country’s GDP grew 5.2 percent year-on-year during the April-to-June quarter, matching a prediction by an Agence France-Presse survey of analysts and topping an official growth goal for the year set by the government.
However, it marked a slowdown from the first quarter’s 5.4 percent growth, which was boosted by exporters rushing to shift goods ahead of high US tariffs.
Photo: AFP
“The national economy withstood pressure and made steady improvement despite challenges,” National Bureau of Statistics Deputy Director Sheng Laiyun (盛來運) told a news conference in Beijing.
“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,” he said.
Markets were mixed in response — after a strong start to the day, Hong Kong pared an early rally, while Shanghai dipped into negative territory.
“The figures probably still overstate the strength of growth,” Capital Economics economist Huang Zichun (黃子春) said in a note.
“With exports set to slow and the tailwind from fiscal support on course to fade, growth is likely to slow further during the second half of this year,” Huang added.
Retail sales rose 4.8 percent year-on-year last month, below a forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists, suggesting efforts to kick-start consumption have fallen flat.
Meanwhile, factory output gained 6.8 percent, higher than the estimate — reflecting continued high demand for Chinese exports that has boosted growth.
However, analysts said that strong exports could be driving deflationary pressures and further dampening already sluggish consumer demand.
Data last week showed that consumer prices edged up last month, barely snapping a four-month deflationary dip, but factory gate prices dropped at their fastest clip in nearly two years.
“Recent efforts to boost spending, such as the broadening of the consumer goods trade-in scheme earlier this year, did temporarily lift retail sales,” Moody’s Analytics economist Sarah Tan said. “However, this support proved unsustainable, with funding reportedly drying up in several provinces. The scheme’s limitations highlight the need for policymakers to address the deeper structural challenges behind consumer caution.”
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
RSS