BEIJING - China's economic growth slowed to 6.2 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the weakest pace in at least 27 years, as demand at home and abroad faltered amid an escalating trade war with the United States.

Monday's official growth data marked a further loss of momentum for the economy from the first quarter's 6.4 percent, raising expectations that Beijing needs to announce more support measures to boost consumption and investment and restore business confidence.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast gross domestic product (GDP) in the April-June quarter rose 6.2 percent.

China's trading partners and financial markets are closely watching the health of the world's second-largest economy as the Sino-US trade war gets longer and costlier, fueling worries of a global recession.