China will relax restrictions on foreign enterprises investing in its fledgling free trade zones (FTZs) in a bid to attract more overseas capital, the country's cabinet said on Tuesday.

China’s economy grew 6.7 per cent in the second quarter, unchanged from the previous three-month period, as a buoyant property market and government stimulus boosted demand for factory output.

The accuracy of China’s official GDP and growth rates has long been a hotly debated topic, with the detention in January of Wang Baoan, the director of the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, on graft charges intensifying doubts about the agency’s integrity.

Premier Li Keqiang called on investors to view China with a “calm and cool head” at a time of global uncertainty, voicing confidence that Beijing can handle the slew of problems facing its economy.

The People’s Bank of China is considering allowing foreign companies to issue shares on the mainland as part of its drive to reform the convertibility of the yuan and open up China’s capital market.

China’s near-term economic outlook is being buoyed by policy support even as its medium-term prospects become more uncertain because of rapidly rising credit, excess industrial capacity and financial sector risks, the International Monetary Fund said.

China’s economic growth has been slowing for six years – far longer than expected. Eager to stem the slide, Chinese government officials and economists have desperately sought a clear explanation pointing toward an effective policy response.

In 2015, China’s growth was again at the center of international headlines, but the focus was instead on the slowdown of the world’s second-largest economy. Much has been made of China’s adjustment to the “new normal,” even as US-China Business Council (USCBC) companies reported that China remains a priority market that delivers more growth than most other markets around the globe. But China is not a monolith, and local-level growth patterns suggest the emergence of the new model.

Only by totally abandoning the current growth model, which relies on credit investment and the real estate industry, can China’s economy escape the dangers posed by the potentially risky debts on its commercial banks’ financial sheets that may exceed $1.3 trillion. The majority of bank loans have flown into the real estate market, which will become instantly volatile if and when housing prices begin to slide.

China’s economy will constantly have to overcome contradictions and problems, as it explores new avenues for economic growth in a period of recurring volatility. Current indicators are positive, but as the economy steadies itself for the long term, it will fluctuate and experience reverses during the short term.