China holds back on more stimulus, citing necessary 'pain'

BEIJING — China is not planning additional stimulus for the second half of the year, according to officials from the economic planning agency and finance ministry.

The world's second-largest economy grew by exactly 5% in the first half of the year, with retail sales slowing to 2% year-on-year growth in June. Those official figures have raised concerns about whether China can achieve its full-year target of around 5% growth.

When asked this week about stimulus plans for the second half of the year, officials affirmed existing measures and emphasized longer-term goals to develop advanced technology and other "new growth drivers."

The economy faces challenges not only from the external environment but also from structural transformation — "pain that must be experienced in the process of pushing for high-quality development," Zhao Chenxin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission, told reporters Thursday in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.

On the flip side, he highlighted growth in new tech such as electric cars, and how Chinese businesses were expanding to emerging markets.

That followed comments Wednesday by Lin Zechang, director of the general affairs department at the Ministry of Finance, that fiscal policy for the year had been announced shortly after the "Two Sessions." That's the annual parliamentary meeting held in March.

The two press conferences followed a regular meeting of top leadership called the Politburo on Tuesday, and a highly anticipated Third Plenum last month that set the economic agenda for the coming few years. Official readouts from both meetings did not indicate major policy changes.

Zhao pointed out that the high-level Third Plenum meeting in mid-July had called for achieving the