Chinese state firm employee Zhang Jinming makes up for a 24% cut to his salary by delivering food for three hours every night after work and on weekends - and hopes he can avoid awkward encounters with colleagues.

The new restrictions will limit exports of technologies crucial for producing EV batteries and processing their raw materials.

The rate, which slightly exceeded the 5.1 per cent average estimate from analysts polled by Reuters, positions Beijing to hit its full-year target of about 5 per cent. It shows how China has been able to keep growth on track through exports and investment even as it struggles with weak demand at home.

This comes after China had earlier in April imposed tighter export controls on rare earth magnets — critical components for electric vehicles, wind turbines, and electronics. The move resulted in a sharp drop in global shipments and rising uncertainty across supply chains.

China has put export restrictions on technologies critical for producing electric vehicle batteries, in a move to consolidate its dominance in the sector that has contributed to the country’s lead in the global EV race.

Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the US’s reversal of restrictions on sales of chips to China followed recent trade negotiations with Beijing over rare earths. President Donald Trump curbed exports of Nvidia’s H2O artificial intelligence chips to China in April as part of an escalation of his trade war with Beijing.

Nvidia will ramp up supply of Chinese-compliant H20 chips in the coming months and look to bring more advanced semiconductors to the world's second-largest technology market, Chief Executive Jensen Huang said at an event in Beijing.

China's trade surplus surged in June, which analysts have attributed to exporters rushing to ship products before U.S. tariffs recommence.

China's exports beat expectations in June as businesses continued to rush out shipments to capitalize on a temporary tariff reprieve ahead of an August deadline.Exports jumped 5.8% in June in U.S. dollar terms from a year earlier,