The Chinese economy slows to the lowest rate for almost 30 years: NPR

People are passing a shop in Beijing on Monday. Government figures show that China's economic growth rate in the second quarter was the slowest in almost three decades.

Andy Wong / AP

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Andy Wong / AP

People are passing a shop in Beijing on Monday. Government figures show that China's economic growth rate in the second quarter was the slowest in almost three decades.

Andy Wong / AP

Updated at 11:50 ET

The Chinese economy has seen the slowest growth in 27 years, while the trade war with the United States has adverse consequences.

The world's second-largest economy grew 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2019, down from 6.4 percent in the first quarter, according to data released by the Chinese government.

The pace of growth in the second quarter has been the slowest since 1992.

Mao Shengyong, a spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics, told reporters at a press conference that "the outside environment" was more complicated than in the past.

Months of trade talks between Beijing and Washington ended in deadlock. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have promised to resume trade talks after their meeting at the G20 summit in Japan in June. In what analysts see as a momentous truce, Trump has chosen not to be afraid to impose new tariffs on some $ 300 billion of additional Chinese imports.

But the president went on Twitter Monday morning to comment on China's economic growth. "US tariffs have a major impact on companies wishing to leave China for non-tariffed countries", he tweeted. "Thousands of companies are leaving, which is why China wants to reach an agreement with the United States and wishes that it did not break the initial agreement in the first place. . "

Still, the slowdown is not unexpected. It falls within the government's target range of 6% to 6.5%. Domestic spending by Chinese consumers further slowed the economy.

As China fears more and more that its tremendous economic growth is running out of steam over the last three decades, the Chinese government continues to implement policies to encourage domestic investment and boost investment. economy.

At the same time, Trump should use his political will to sign a decree aimed at boosting the production of US steel and iron.

This initiative would not be Trump's first attempt to strengthen the US steel industry. It imposed tariffs on imports from most major steel-producing countries in 2018. The measure may have resulted in increased tariffs between Chinese and US products.

Economists have warned for months against the economic slowdown in China in 2019. "Even in November, they were talking about the cold of winter.They were not talking about the weather," said economist Christopher Balding at NPR in January.