Commentary: China’s Yuan Defies Its Economic Woes

The greatest uncertainty facing China’s economy this year was the extreme tariff pressure from abroad at the start of the year. Against this backdrop, its performance in the first half still showed three bright spots. First, major indicators met expectations, with real GDP growing by a cumulative 5.3% year-over-year, 1.3 percentage points higher than last year, laying a foundation for achieving the full-year target of around 5%. Second, new achievements in technology and consumption appeared frequently, with “Nezha 2,” the “Suchao” league, DeepSeek large models, and Unitree robots successively gaining popularity. While old risks like prices, real estate, and local government debt have not been fully resolved, they have not worsened beyond expectations, and the continuous release of positive information has steadily repaired market confidence in recovery and innovation. Third, the government had anticipated potential shocks and prepared contingency plans, implementing targeted and orderly countermeasures against tariff hikes that effectively protected domestic industries and foreign trade interests. The policy response has been generally affirmed at the societal level.