China’s industrial output weakened in July, posing a challenge for policymakers who are relying on the sector to support growth and offset a property slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
Industrial output rose 5.1 percent in July from a year earlier, slightly below the 5.2 percent increase forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the 5.3 percent growth in the previous month, official data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Thursday.
Retail sales rose 2.7 per cent, slightly more than the 2.6 per cent increase that analysts had expected and up from 2 per cent in June.
President Xi Jinping has turned to industry to revive China’s economy after a three-year property slump hit household consumption and shattered investor confidence.
The government announced gradual measures to stabilise the housing market and revive household demand, but stopped short of a bazooka-style stimulus.
According to the NBS, new home prices in China’s largest cities fell 4.2% year-on-year in July, while existing home prices fell 8.8%. Investment in property development fell 10.2 per cent year-on-year and investment in residential property fell 10.6 per cent, continuing the double-digit declines seen in June.
The dire state of the property market supported a warning this week from China Baowu Steel Group, the world’s biggest steelmaker, that the country’s producers were facing the worst downturn since the devastating declines of 2008 and 2015.
Fixed-asset investment rose 3.6 per cent in July, below the 3.9 per cent estimate of Bloomberg analysts and June’s 3.9 per cent, the NBS said.
Unemployment was 5.2 per cent in July, up from 5 per cent in June and in line with analysts’ estimates.
