A pedestrian walks past Chinese national flags hanging on a street light as residential buildings stand under construction in the background in Shanghai, China.

China on Monday posted second-quarter GDP growth of 6.7 percent from a year ago, slightly lower than 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018 as Beijing has been cracking down on risky credit amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S.

The official reading was in line with expectations from analysts polled by Reuters.

The headline figure was no surprise as any impact from current U.S.-China trade scuffles will only factor in the second half of the year, said Fraser Howie, an independent analyst.

There may be a bumpy ride ahead as China's economy is not impervious to external threats, he added.

"China's economy can be knocked, and when it comes to trade, it influences a lot of sectors, a lot of jobs associated with it. Net export sheds are a small percent of GDP but your brain is only 3 percent of your body mass [and] losing 3 percent can be very important to you," Howie told CNBC's "Street Signs."