Premier Wen Jiabao has conceded that China’s economy has yet to see a sustained rebound and may face a prolonged period of hardship.
In March, Wen had announced an economic growth target of 7.5% for this year which would be an eight-year low. However, many economists believed that this would allow the government to focus on re-balancing the economy.
China’s domestic product grew by 7.6% from a year ago, in the April-June quarter, weaker than the 7.7% economists had expected.