China's GDP grows 5.3% in H1 2025 amid global pressures: NBS

The primary sector grew by 3.7 per cent and secondary sector by 5.3 per cent.

Industrial output climbed 6.4 per cent in H1, driven by strong performance in equipment and high-tech manufacturing. June alone saw a 6.8 per cent rise, up from 5.8 per cent in May.

Manufacturing output increased by 7 per cent during January–June period. Among enterprise types, share-holding firms led with 6.9 per cent growth, followed by private companies at 6.7 per cent, foreign-funded firms at 4.3 per cent, and state-owned enterprises at 4.2 per cent.

June’s manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 49.7 per cent, up 0.2 points from May. The production and operation expectation index rose to 52 per cent, indicating cautious optimism, NBS said.

Employment remained stable, with the urban surveyed unemployment rate averaging 5.2 per cent and easing to 5 per cent in June. Rural migrant workers totalled 191.39 million at end-Q2, up 0.7 per cent year-on-year, with enterprise employees averaging 48.5 working hours per week.

However, industrial profit challenges persisted. Between January and May, profits of large industrial firms fell by 1.1 per cent to 2.72 trillion yuan.

China’s proactive macroeconomic approach has supported steady economic progress. The first-half results are ‘highly meaningful’ and underscored the resilience shown amid global uncertainties and mounting external pressures, said Chinese media reports quoting Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the NBS.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (SG)