China's growth has slowed to its lowest rate since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009, though analysts voiced optimism on Friday that the economy may have bottomed out already. 
 
 Second-quarter growth of 7.6% – down from 8.1% in the previous three months – was in line with expectations, but dampened hopes that the world's second largest economy would help to offset wider woes. 
 
 "The growth rate of 7.6% is already an achievement because the economic situation facing China has been complex and severe," said Sheng Laiyun of the National Bureau of Statistics. 
 
 "We have seen tepid domestic and external demand." 
 
 Growth in the first half of the year stood at 7.8% overall, with Europe's struggles and government curbs on the property market weighing on the economy. The Asian Development Bank trimmed its forecast for the year from 8.5% to 8.2% on Thursday – echoing the World Bank's move in May. 
 
 The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, warned last week that the economy "still faces relatively huge downward pressure". Lower than expected consumer inflation and import growth, in addition to producer price deflation, have also unnerved investors. 
 
 Xianfang Ren, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Beijing, told Reuters: "Overall, this is a soft landing, but we can see that the Chinese economy is undergoing serious pain. 
 
 "I have 80% confidence that the economy will pick up in the third quarter as we have been in a slowdown for six consecutive quarters now." 
 
 Xiao Li, an economist at Industrial Bank in Shanghai, told AP: "It is not certain whether or not there will be a strong upward rebound. But at least the economic growth rate will stop coming down." 
 
 Sheng said the slowdown partly reflected China's shift to a more sustainable development pattern after years of double-digit growth. The government has set its target for GDP growth this year – which rarely bears much resemblance to the actual figure – at just 7.5%, after years of an 8% goal. 
 
 "The downside risks remain, but the government has plenty of tools in its hands to make sure it won't collapse. The issue is whether the government can adjust to steady and healthy growth in the medium term," said Qian Liu of the Economist Intelligence Unit. 
 
 "Obviously in the last few months, things have been slower than anyone wanted or expected – they succeeded in scaring people out of buying houses so the residential property sector fell; and they frightened local officials and bankers in terms of infrastructure. They have fixed that," said Andy Rothman of researchers CLSA. 
 
 "China's economy survived a period of much slower growth in 2009, where there were massive layoffs, without social unrest or serious problems." 
 
 The government has already cut interest rates twice in a month and lowered the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves three times since November. Analysts expect further easing of monetary policy, but officials have insisted they will not launch a stimulus package comparable to the 4tn yuan (£405bn) package of 2008. 
 
 Retail sales growth in June fell to 12.1% from 13.8% the previous month, while growth in factory output ebbed slightly from 9.6% to 9.5%. 
 
 Fixed asset investment growth – the key driver of economic expansion over the last decade – was 20.4% in the year to June, slightly above expectations, with a sharp acceleration in the last month. 
 
 The government has long vowed to rebalance the economy away from its reliance on investment and exports towards domestic consumption, but experts say progress is proving painfully slow. 
 
 Wen told economists this week: "The measures to stabilise economic growth include boosting consumption and diversifying exports, but currently, what is important is to pursue a reasonable growth of investment." ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption John Sudworth reports on China's economic slowdown 
 
 China's economic growth slowed in the April to June period, the second straight quarter of weaker expansion. 
 
 The world's second biggest economy grew by 7.5% compared to the previous year, down from 7.7% in the January to March period, data showed. 
 
 The figures were in line with analyst expectations. 
 
 After decades of blistering growth in China, analysts say authorities now seem ready to accept a slower pace of expansion. 
 
 The figures showed that weak trade data and actions by authorities to rein in bank lending contributed to the slower growth. 
 
 "As of now, China's gross domestic product has been staying under 8% for five straight quarters, a clear sign of distress," said economist Ren Xianfang from IHS Global Insight. 
 
 "The rather sharp growth deceleration and the recent financial market turmoil indicate that risks have been building on both the financial and real goods sector." 
 
 Global impact 
 
 The government has set a target of 7.5% growth for the whole of 2013, which would mark the lowest rate of expansion in more than two decades. 
 
 The world economy may be slowing as China and other emerging economies decelerate and the West continues its gradual recovery. But growing at a more sustainable pace isn't necessarily a bad thing. Of course, it depends on the nature of the slowdown 
 
 A slowdown in economic activity in China has a global impact as companies that sell to China may see revenues suffer. 
 
 Countries including Australia, Brazil and others in South East Asia have seen huge profits in recent years because of Chinese demand for natural resources. 
 
 The fall in demand from China has already had an impact on the prices of many commodities. 
 
 Last week, China's Finance Minister Lou Jiwei indicated that economic growth could be 7% for the year, and that this may not be the "bottom line". 
 
 However, the state-owned Xinhua news agency later corrected its report, saying Mr Lou had said economic growth would be 7.5%, in line with government targets. 
 
 Short-term pain? 
 
 However, some analysts question whether China's growth rate might dip still further later in the year. 
 
 Other data released on Monday showed growth in factory output had slowed to 9.3% for the first half of the year, down 0.2% from the first three months of the year. 
 
 Analysis The underlying trend is clear - China's economic growth is slowing. It is now well below the stunning 10% average that the country has experienced for the last three decades. The pattern continues in the new headline figures which show GDP in the second quarter compared to what it was a year earlier. China's National Bureau of Statistics has also published figures comparing with previous quarter. Confusingly that figure was slightly stronger than the one immediately before, but it does nonetheless confirm the pattern of slowdown over a slightly longer time frame. That figure showed growth of 1.7% in the second quarter, which would be about 7% if it continued for a whole year. China's data are often criticised as unreliable. But it is abundantly clear the rest of the world will have to get used to China growing at a more moderate, and perhaps more sustainable pace. 
 
 Growth in investment in factories and other fixed assets also eased. 
 
 "Further deceleration is possible if reforms and stimulus measures are delayed," said Alaistair Chan of Moody's Analytics in a report. 
 
 Other analysts say more stimulus measures will be essential if the government is to meet its growth targets. 
 
 "We will see some targeted measures to stimulate growth,'' said Credit Agricole CIB economist Dariusz Kowalczyk. 
 
 "They have to do something. Otherwise they will miss their target. And they cannot afford that, because this is their first year in power." 
 
 A spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics said: "Major indicators are within our targeted range but we face a complex situation". 
 
 China's leaders have repeatedly said the long-term goal is to rebalance the economy away from an over-reliance on exports and investment, and spur consumer spending instead. 
 
 "Some measures, including the intensified property tightening campaign, new rules to curb misuse of public funds and the exit some previous stimulus policies, will inevitably have some impact on growth in the short term, but they will benefit our economy in the long run," said Sheng Laiyun from the bureau of statistics at a press conference. 
 
 In 2012 China expanded at a rate of 7.8%, its worst annual performance in 13 years.
– Hopes that a booming Chinese economy might give the moribund West a boost have taken a hit with the release of figures showing the country's growth is at its slowest since the financial crisis. The Chinese economy has slowed for the sixth quarter in a row, with last quarter's 7.6% GDP growth rate representing a three-year low. While 7.6% would sound pretty sweet to most Western countries, the figure is just one of many signs that the Chinese economy is struggling—export growth in the first half of 2012 is down steeply from a year earlier and the People's Bank of China has cut interest rates for the second month in a row in its first reductions since 2008. China is also embroiled in a fierce crackdown on real estate speculation, further reducing demand. Most analysts expect the Chinese economy to rebound later this year, although the situation may be worse than official figures show: Electricity consumption has slowed much faster than growth in official GDP, leading some to suspect that the figures are being skewed ahead of the once-in-a-decade leadership transition this fall, Bloomberg notes. Still, "China's economy survived a period of much slower growth in 2009, where there were massive layoffs, without social unrest or serious problems," an analyst at CLSA tells the Guardian.