As the globe frets over Brexit, China worries have been superseded — for now, at least. On Friday, the National Bureau of Statistics released a slew of second-quarter economic data. Headlining the figures, the country’s gross domestic product grew 10 basis points faster than forecast, up 6.7 per cent. The quality (not to mention reliability) of that growth is questionable.

China is quieter these days regarding its desire to address economic imbalances. And Friday’s data show more clearly that the government has rowed back from reform in favour of stimulus measures, pumping money into the system to stabilise growth. Figures from the People’s Bank of China the same day showed that money supply growth was faster than expected, reaching levels last seen post 2008. New loans also rose by over $200bn, more than $50bn higher than economists’ estimates.

Still, the data also show that China’s economic focus continues to shift. Retail sales grew faster than expected, with year on year growth accelerating from the first quarter. Consumption accounted for nearly three quarters of the first half’s GDP growth, according to the NBS. Meanwhile, fixed asset investment growth slowed. Yet the investment that did occur was largely state sponsored; private enterprises barely increased their spending.