China's economy grows 5.5% in H1

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, grew by 3.1 percent year-on-year in June, down from the 12.7 percent growth in May.

In the first half of the year, retail sales rose by 8.2 percent compared to the same period last year, while in the first quarter, they grew by 5.8 percent from a year earlier.

In the January-June period, fixed-asset investment, a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment, grew by 3.8 percent compared with a year earlier, while in the January-May period, it jumped 4 percent year-on-year.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.2 percent in June, flat with the previous month, according to the NBS.

Despite the steady recovery, the NBS warned of pressures from a complicated international environment, saying the foundation for the economic rebound is not yet solid.

More efforts should be made to promote high-quality growth, fully deepen reforms and opening-up, accelerate the modernization of the industrial system, improve the economic structure and gather new growth momentum, the NBS said.