Growth in the world’s second largest economy, China, beat expectations in the second quarter, but it was still the weakest showing since the global financial crisis.
The economy grew 7% from a year ago – matching growth in the first three months of the year, which was the lowest since 2009 when it fell to 6.6%.
A weaker property market and factory production have hampered growth.
But, Beijing has rolled out a series of stimulus measures amid the slowdown.
The central bank cut interest rates for the fourth time since November last month to boost economic activity.
Economists are, however, continuing to call for more easing despite the better-than-expected numbers as volatility in the stock markets has sparked concerns of financial turmoil in the country.
Growth was expected to dip below the 7% mark and come in at 6.9% for the April to June quarter.
Frederic Neumann, co-head of Asian economic research at HSBC expects more fiscal and monetary easing in the coming months in order for China to achieve sustainable growth.
“Stimulus measures rolled out over the past nine months are beginning to show some traction. But work remains to be done,” he told the BBC. “The sell-off in the stock market will likely necessitate further easing in the coming months.”
The mainland’s benchmark index, the Shanghai Composite, had lost almost a third of its value in the three weeks from mid-June.
The positive growth figures failed to excite investors with the index down 2.4% to 3,830.49 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was lower by 0.5% to 24,995.95, reports the BBC.
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