GDP growth down to 7.8% in first half

China's year-on-year GDP growth in the second quarter decreased to 7.6 percent, making the economic growth in the first half of the year 7.8 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on July 13.

The growth is 0.5 percentage points lower than in the first quarter.

Industrial companies with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan ($3.17 million) registered 10.5 percent growth in added value in the first half of the year, 1.1 percentage points lower than in the first quarter.

From January to May, the profit of those companies also saw a decline of 2.4 percent over a year earlier.

Fixed-asset investment grew by 20.4 percent in the first half, down 0.5 percentage points from the first quarter.

Investment in property development grew 14.3 percent adjusted for inflation.

The retail value of consumer goods, adjusted for inflation, in the first half grew 11.2 percent year on year.