Economy off to weak start in 2015

By Wang Yanlin | March 11, 2015, Wednesday |

Online Edition

China’s economy registered a weak start in 2015 with industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment all rising at a slower pace in the first two months, according to National Bureau of Statistics data released today.

Industrial production expanded 6.8 percent from a year earlier in January and February combined, down from the 7.9 percent pace in December.

Retail sales rose 10.7 percent, less than the 11.9 percent increase in December.

Fixed-asset investment growth slowed to 13.9 percent during the January-February period, weakening from 15.7 percent last year.

“Data in the first two months are disrupted by seasonal factors like Chinese New Year,” said Tang Jianwei, an economist at Bank of Communications. “But the numbers released today were much worse than market expectations and point to a weakening economy.”

Trade rebounded in February, largely thanks to a strong export sector, earlier data showed. But imports continued to slump while deflation risks remained.

To counter economic weakness, the People’s Bank of China announced an unexpected interest rate on February 28, the second in three months. It followed a cut in the reserve requirement ratio in early February.

China lowered its gross domestic product growth target to around 7 percent for this year from 7.5 percent in 2014. The country posted a 7.4 percent increase last year, its slowest in 24 years.

Economy

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Economy off to weak start in 2015

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