China's economy grew 4.7% from a year earlier in the second quarter of the year, missing market expectations and heaping pressure on the country's leadership to boost confidence this week as they gather for a key policy summit.

The result showed that growth slowed from the 5.3% year-over-year expansion recorded in the first three months of the year, and missed the 5.0% figure expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal.

The numbers suggest that the world's second-largest economy has lost some momentum in recent months amid rising trade tensions with the west and a property slump that continues to drag on despite Beijing's intensified efforts to rescue the sector.

On a quarter-over-quarter basis, China said its GDP grew 0.7% in the second quarter, down from the 1.6% gain seen in the first quarter.

The data comes as the country's ruling communist party elites kicked off a four-day conclave, known as the Third Plenum, in which they are set to reveal a range of reform measures to tackle China's long-term structural problems.

Hopes are high that Beijing will announce strategies to further tilt the country away from its over-reliance on property and debt-fuelled growth to a consumption-driven development model. However, expectations for major stimulus are low as the meeting traditionally concludes with pledges of reform rather than immediate actionable change, and policymakers seem to be gauging the effects of previous rounds of policy support, economists say.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said last month that the government has no intention of using "strong medicine" to boost an economy still bruised after being battered by the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, "we should precisely adjust and slowly nurture [the economy] to allow it to gradually recover", Li said.

After this week, all eyes will be on an end-of-July meeting by the Politburo, the communist party's top decision-making body. Leaders at the gathering are expected to provide their latest assessment of the economy and offer clues on near-term policy plans that could include more property rescue measures.


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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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