China’s economy slowed more than expected last quarter to the weakest in more than three years, raising pressure on policymakers to speed up public spending to ensure their annual growth goal is met.Gross domestic product grew 4.3% from a year ago, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, below the bottom of this year’s official target range of 4.5% to 5%. That compares with a 4.5% gain projected by economists polled by Bloomberg, following an increase of 5% in the first quarter. Taken together, growth in the first half of the year was 4.7%. GDP expanded 0.9% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the slowest in more than two years.The extent of the slowdown will likely dominate the agenda when the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo meets later this month. Officials may choose to accelerate spending and step up investment in infrastructure projects after cutbacks to expenditure in recent months put the brakes on growth following a surprise pickup to start the year.(BLOOMBERG)
