国际英语新闻：Japanese economy grows annualized rate of 0.4% in Q2

TOKYO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Japanese economy grew an annualized real 0.4 percent in the past quarter from April to June, expanding for the third consecutive quarter, the government said Monday.

But the result fell short of economists expectations of an annualized growth of 2.3 percent and a 0.6 percent rise on quarter in a Kyodo News survey.

The growth in gross domestic product (GDP) followed a downwardly revised 4.4 percent expansion in the January-March period and 4.1 percent growth in the October-December quarter. The latest result was equivalent to a 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter increase, Kyodo News reported.

According to Cabinet Office, the sales slowdown was for the most part a reaction to a surge in demand for those products in the previous quarter, which came before the expiry of the government's "eco-car" subsidy and "eco-point" incentive programs in September and December, respectively.

Among the components, consumer spending, which makes up some 60 percent of Japanese GDP, increased only 0.03 percent from the previous quarter, mainly affected by a slump in sales of such durable goods as televisions and cars, according to a preliminary government report.

Exports grew 5.9 percent on strong demand from Europe, further showing that Japanese economic recovery relied largely on external demand.

The economy might be said to have already entered the stage of leveling off, Keisuke Tsumura, a parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office, was quoted by Kyodo News as saying.

Japan's GDP totaled 1.288 trillion dollars in the second quarter this year, smaller than China's 1.336 trillion dollars in the same period on an unadjusted, comparable basis, Kyodo News reported, citing the Cabinet Office.

This added to the expectations that China will outpace Japan as the world's second-biggest economy after the United States on a yearly basis as well within 2010, it said.

However, the Japanese government said the size of China's gross domestic product lagged behind Japan's in the first half.