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Data show some positive signs in China’s economy
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CHINA’S industrial production and retail sales improved modestly in August but fixed-asset investment continued to slow in the first eight months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday.
Industrial output grew 6.1 percent from a year earlier last month, up slightly from 6 percent in July but still below the gain of 6.8 percent in June.
Retail sales added 10.8 percent to 2.48 trillion yuan (US$390 billion) in August, up from the gains of 10.5 percent in July and 10.6 percent in June.
Fixed-asset investment, however, added 10.9 percent from January to August to 33.9 trillion yuan, down from the 11.2 percent rise in the first seven months and 11.4 percent gain in the first half.
“The economy seems to display some positive signs after the government boosted measures to support real activities, and these have begun to filter through,” said Jiang Yuan, an analyst at the bureau.
Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, said the slight increase in retail sales may have helped consumer confidence in the economy amid a recovery in domestic demand.
“The property market has been back on track and the industrial sector seems to be bottoming out,” Lian said. “(But) Growth in investment was still moderating.”
Premier Li Keqiang said at the World Economic Forum last week that China’s economic growth is “in the proper range” and the country still has various tools to address the downward pressure.
China’s economy grew 7 percent in the second quarter, better than previous market hopes for a 6.8 percent rise that was below the full-year target of 7 percent.
But economic data in the past few months, including trade, industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment, all eased and cast a shadow over any recovery.
The latest data showed China’s trade plummeted again in August, with exports dropping 6.1 percent and imports diving 14.3 percent.
The official Purchasing Managers’ Index, a gauge of operating conditions in the state-owned manufacturing sector, also fell to 47.3 last month as activities shrank for the first time in six months. The Caixin PMI, a gauge for private and export-oriented producers, fell to a 76-month low of 47.3 on fewer orders and weak exports.
China’s central bank has cut interest rates for the fifth time since November as well as reserve requirement ratios for lenders last month. Other measures included quicker implementation of investment in railway and subway projects.
The Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, rose 2 percent from a year earlier last month, faster than the 1.6 percent in July but still below the target of under 3 percent.
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