China's economy grew 7.5 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, official data showed Wednesday. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth of the world's No. 2 economy in the April-June period was slightly higher than the 7.4 percent expansion in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its Website.
But GDP in the first half of 2014 rose 7.4 percent from the same period last year, which was below the government-set 2014 growth target of 7.5 percent, according to the bureau.
"The Chinese economy showed good momentum of stable and moderate growth in the first half," Bureau Spokesman Sheng Laiyun told a press conference in Beijing, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Sheng highlighted a pickup in economic growth in the second quarter, encouraging job data and positive developments in structural adjustment. He stated that economic structure continued to be optimized as growth of the tertiary sector outperformed the primary and secondary industries during this period.
Meanwhile, domestic demand is playing a bigger role in driving growth, with consumption contributing to 52.4 percent of GDP in the first half, Sheng said.
"China will continue to deepen reform, promote innovation, adjust economic structure and transform development patterns to consolidate the momentum," the spokesman added.
China's economy expanded 7.7 percent in 2012 and 2013, the weakest since 1999.