China's growth slowed for a sixth quarter to the weakest pacesince the global financial crisis, putting pressure on Premier WenJiabao to boost stimulus to secure a second-half economicrebound.

Gross domestic product expanded 7.6 percent last quarter from ayear earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today inBeijing. The pace, a three-year low, compares with an 8.1 percentgain in the previous period and the 7.7 percent median forecast ofeconomists. Industrial production increased at a slower pace inJune while retail sales growth decelerated.

Today's data painted a mixed picture from a pickup infixed-asset investment that could signal the economy is stabilizingto the warning sign that electricity output failed to increase inJune from a year earlier. Singapore reported an unexpected economiccontraction as China's slowdown undermines a global recoveryalready threatened by Europe's debt crisis and limited U.S. jobgrowth.