BEIJING, July 17-- China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 5.5 percent year on year in the first half (H1) of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

China's GDP reached 59.3 trillion yuan (about 8.3 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first half, NBS data showed.

In the second quarter, the country's GDP expanded 6.3 percent year on year, according to the NBS.

In the first half of this year, in the face of a grave and complex international environment and arduous tasks of reform, development and stability at home, all regions and departments made great efforts to stabilize growth, employment and prices, said NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui at a press conference.

Market demand gradually recovered, production and supply continued to increase, and economic performance, on the whole, picked up, Fu added.

China's retail sales of consumer goods went up 8.2 percent year on year in the first half of this year, 2.4 percentage points faster than that of the first quarter, the NBS spokesperson said. Retail sales of consumer goods totaled around 22.76 trillion yuan in H1. In June alone, retail sales edged up 3.1 percent year on year.

The country's value-added industrial output, an important economic indicator, went up 3.8 percent year on year in H1, according to the NBS. In June alone, industrial output rose 4.4 percent year on year.

China's fixed-asset investment went up 3.8 percent year on year in H1, NBS data showed.

The country's value-added service output went up 6.4 percent year on year in H1. The growth rate accelerated by 1 percentage point from the pace recorded in the first quarter.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate in China stood at 5.3 percent in H1 of 2023, 0.2 percentage points lower than that in the first quarter, official data showed. On a monthly basis, the rate stayed unchanged from that in May, at 5.2 percent.

China's per capita disposable income stood at 19,672 yuan in H1, up 6.5 percent year on year in nominal terms, data showed on Monday. After deducting price factors, per capita disposable income rose 5.8 percent from the previous year.