The figure, which was announced Thursday, keeps the nation on pace to meet the government's annual target of 8 percent growth in gross domestic product. Beijing has used a $585 billion stimulus plan and $1.27 trillion in new bank lending this year to drive the nation's recovery. China has seen modest improvements in exports and retail sales, but investment continues to make the overwhelming bulk of the country's growth. About 88 percent of the country's GDP in the first half is tied to investment spending. Policymakers said the nation's moderately loose bank lending will continue until the economy is on more stable ground. Their focus now will be on rebalancing the economy more toward sustainable, domestic growth. 'Having achieved the primary objective of stabilizing the domestic economy, authorities are increasingly turning their attention to improving the quality of growth,' JP Morgan's Chairman and Managing Director of China Equities, Jing Ulrich wrote in a note Thursday. 'As such, new measures have been introduced to curb expansion in industries that are prone to overcapacity, increase support for small and medium-sized businesses, and to nurture development in areas such as social welfare and environmental protection.' China's economy grew 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first quarter. 