Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Dinghen in Beijing.
Coming up, China's economy grew by 4.3% in the second quarter.
Australia freezes Chinese investor rights over key rare earth projects.
Lebanon and Israel are holding talks in Rome on implementing a framework deal.
The U.S. House passes a bill to make daylight saving time permanent.
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you can download our podcast by searching for World Today.
First up, China's gross domestic product increased by 4.7 in the first half of 2026. The world's second-largest
economy generated some 69.6 trillion yuan in output during the period, or somewhere around 10.3 trillion US dollars.
Chinese authorities say the economy withstood pressure and continued to demonstrate great resilience.
China's value-added industrial output rose by 5.4%, with equipment manufacturing
and high-tech manufacturing posting strong growth momentum.
Total retail sales of goods and services increased by 2.7%.
China is targeting economic growth of 4.5% to 5% this year.
So for more on China's economic performance so far this year, my colleague Zhao Yang earlier spoke with Dr. Zhou Mi,
senior research fellow joining us from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
So Dr. Zhou Mi, thank you very much for joining us.
China's GDP grew 4.7% in the first half of the year, despite the global challenges.
And this is within the government's annual target.
So how would you assess China's economy right now?