China Economy Grows 6.7% in Q2 amid Trade War with US

The Chinese economy grew at an annual pace of 6.7%  in Q2 of 2018, official data showed, meeting forecasts for the period.

The data marked a slight slowdown from a 6.8% expansion recorded in Q1 of 2018.

It comes as the Chinese government attempts to curb growing debt and as trade tensions with the US escalate.

Last week, the US raised the stakes in a trade war last week, listing another $200 billion worth of China’s goods to be hit by tariffs.

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Chinese stock markets, which have struggled recently amid the escalating trade dispute between the US and China, traded down slightly on July 16.

The US slapped tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods on July 6, opening the way for a tit-for-tat trade war with the world’s second-largest economy.

China retaliated, saying the US had launched the “largest trade war in economic history”.

Last month, China’s monthly trade surplus with the US hit a record high of nearly $29 billion as exports to America remained strong.

President Donald Trump recently suggested that more than $500 billion of Chinese goods could be hit by tariffs. That is almost equal to the value of China’s entire goods exports to the US in 2017.