China Industrial Output Strengthens; Retail Sales Miss Forecast
(RTTNews) - China's industrial production growth accelerated in August on robust foreign demand, while retail sales logged a weaker growth and fixed asset investment downturn worsened further, underscoring the challenges in achieving the official growth target this year.
Industrial production increased 5.2 percent on a yearly basis in August, faster than the 4.5 percent rise in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. The annual growth also exceeded forecast of 4.8 percent.
Retail sales rose moderately by 0.4 percent from the last year. This was slower than the 0.6 percent growth seen in July and economists' forecast of 0.8 percent. During January to August, fixed asset investment declined 7.2 percent from the same period last year and also matched expectations. At the same time, property investment plunged 19.9 percent.
In August, the urban unemployment rate rose to 5.3 percent from 5.2 percent in July. The NBS attributed the increase to seasonal factors.
ING economist Lynn Song said weak Chinese consumption and investment persisted amid soft domestic demand, while solid external demand continues to support industrial activity.
The economist noted that the resilient external demand and China's own tech and industrial upgrading continued to drive industrial output growth.
The economist expects to see some stabilization in retail sales. However, a more significant turnover will likely require additional support, he added.
Overall, the third-quarter GDP looks likely to stay near or below the low-end of the target range of around 4.5 percent to 5 percent, the economist said.
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