China says it needs ‘arduous efforts’ to meet 2019 industrial output goal

China’s industry ministry said that “arduous efforts” will be needed to achieve this year’s industrial output growth target, as trade protectionism weighs on exports and clouds the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.

Ongoing reforms and restructuring of the country’s industrial sectors pose additional challenges, vice industry and information technology minister Xin Guobin told reporters at a news conference in Beijing.

China’s economic growth slowed to 6.2% in the second quarter, its weakest pace in at least 27 years, as demand at home and abroad faltered in the face of mounting U.S. trade pressure.

China set a 2019 industrial output growth target of 5.5%-6.0%. Output growth fell to a 17-year low of 5.0% in May from a year earlier, but rebounded to 6.3% in June. Still, analysts are unsure if the gains are sustainable, with the Sino-U.S. trade war still raging and factory surveys showing new orders are continuing to shrink.

Output grew 6% in the first half of the year, Xin said, adding that the country still faces significant challenges in stabilizing production given a big drop in growth of industrial product exports.