China's industrial output gains in sign economy is stabilising

[BEIJING] China's industrial production gained momentum in May while growth in retail sales kept pace with the previous month, showing signs of stabilization in the world's second-biggest economy.

Industrial output rose 6.1 last month from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said Thursday, accelerating from 5.9 per cent in April and beating the median estimate of 6.0 per cent in a Bloomberg survey. Retail sales added 10.1 per cent in May, while fixed-asset investment excluding rural households climbed 11.4 per cent in the first five months.

The numbers provide a counterpoint to inflation and trade data released earlier this week showing a sluggish domestic environment. Signs that the economy may be starting to pull out of its weakest growth since the 2009 global recession could be enough to keep the People's Bank of China on the sidelines as it waits to see the impact of interest-rate cuts and loosened fiscal policy.

"As China's pro-growth policies roll out gradually, the economic situation may improve in the third quarter," Ding Shuang, chief China economist at Standard Chartered Plc in Hong Kong, said before the release of the data. "Some leading indicators are already showing signs of stabilisation."

BLOOMBERG