FILE PHOTO: Containers are seen at a port in Qingdao, Shandong province, China July 11, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s first-half economic growth of 6.3% was “hard-won” and laid a good foundation for achieving a full-year growth target of between 6% and 6.5%, a spokesman for the country’s statistics bureau said on Monday.

National Bureau of Statistics spokesman Mao Shenyong told reporters during a briefing that China’s recent counter-cyclical measures to support the economy will show more obvious results during the second half of 2019.