China's fixed asset investment up 9.6% on-year in first five months: govt

[BEIJING] China's fixed asset investment, an important gauge of infrastructure spending, rose 9.6 per cent in the first five months of the year, government statistics showed Monday, as investment growth slows in the world's second-largest economy.

Industrial output rose 6.0 per cent year-on-year in May, matching expectations, while retail sales were up 10.0 per cent year-on-year in May, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The fixed asset investment results fell short of Bloomberg News' forecast of 10.4 per cent based on a survey of economists.

"The national economy extended a stabilising and progressing trend that emerged since the start of the year with positive factors accumulating," said Sheng Laiyun, spokesman for the National Bureau of Statistics.

"But we must be aware that the international environment remains complicated and severe, the painful domestic structural adjustments continue, and the economy is still under downward pressure."

AFP