A report by the government says that China’s economy expanded at a lower-than-expected rate of 4.7% annual rate in the last quarter. The report also emphasizes that the economy has shown improvements in factory output, income, and investment. The growth was exponentially slower than the 5.3% of the annual growth in this year’s first quarter. 

“Since the beginning of this year, global economic growth momentum has been weak, inflation is sticky, geopolitical conflicts, international trade frictions, and other problems have occurred frequently, domestic demand is insufficient, enterprises are under great operating pressure, and there are many risks and hidden dangers in key areas,” it said in a statement. “There are many difficulties and challenges in promoting the stable operation of the economy,”.

The update coincided with a once-a-decade gathering of the ruling Communist Party leaders, who were supposed to decide on economic policy, which would likely center on self-sufficient growth plans in a time of trade and technological difficulties.

The 205-member Central Committee of the Communist Party is currently in its third plenary session of a five-year term that began in 2022. The meeting will last four days. The meeting for this year was supposed to happen last year, but it was postponed.