By Richard Johnstone | 15 July 2013

Economic growth in China has slowed for the second successive period, with output increasing by 7.5% in the second quarter of 2013, official statistics have revealed today.

The lower growth rate comes after expansion fell from 7.9% in the last three months of 2012 to 7.7% in the first quarter of this year.

The reduced rate is the result of a ‘complicated and volatile economic environment at home and abroad’, the National Bureau of Statistics of China said.

Among the sectors of the economy that recorded a lower expansion in the second quarter, export growth was 4.9 percentage points below the level recorded in the first three months of the year. In June, the total value of imports and exports was $321.5bn, down 2 percentage points year-on-year.

Agricultural production of grain increased by just 1.5% compared to 2012, the report added.

Smaller increases in gross domestic product come as a result of the country’s leaders attempt to rebalance the economy away from exports towards domestic consumption, including consumer spending.

Publishing the figures, the bureau said that the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee had been ‘making progress’ towards this aim, while also ensuring economic stability. There was now ‘conditions for economic restructuring’ as a result of the policy, and potential for higher economic growth in the future through domestic output.

Among the key figures, retail sales increased 12.7% in the second quarter, compared to the year before, and were 0.3 percentage points higher than the January-March period, according to the NBS. Household disposable income increased by 6.5% over the three-month period, the report found, after adjusting for inflation.