Beijing posts economic data amid trade war with US

China released second-quarter figures on Monday showing that its economy slowed to 6.2% — the weakest rate in at least 27 years, as the country’s trade war with the U.S. took its toll.

From April to June, China’s economy grew 6.2% from a year ago, the country’s statistics bureau said on Monday. That was in line with analysts polled by Reuters.

The second quarter growth was the country’s slowest pace since the first quarter of 1992, the earliest quarterly data on record, according to Reuters.

China’s economy expanded by 6.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019.

For the first half of the year, China’s GDP grew 6.3% on-year.

China’s statistics bureau said the economy faces a complex situation with external uncertainties increasing, Reuters reported.

The world’s second largest economy faces new downward pressures and will try to ensure steady economic growth, the statistics bureau added.

China’s months-long trade dispute with the U.S. is weighing on its economy.

Data on Friday showed China’s June exports contracted from a year ago due to higher U.S. tariffs. Imports into China also shrank sharply due to slowing domestic demand.

There are fears of an economic slowdown globally if the U.S.-China trade war persists.

Weak second quarter Chinese economic growth “may cause wobbles in the rest of Asia if the slowdown ignites worries of trade tensions,” said Vishnu Varathan, head of Asia and Oceania economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank.

With China’s exports slowing, “what’s more worrying is an even sharper slowdown in China’s imports flags risks of supply-chain effects hurting rest of Asia for which China remain a major market,” Varathan said in a note on Monday.

— Reuters contributed to this report.