China industrial output growth hits 6-month low

Beijing

GROWTH in China's industrial production, a measure of output at factories, workshops and mines, fell to a six-month low in October, official data showed on Wednesday, suggesting sustained weakness in the world's second-largest economy.

Industrial output increased 5.6 per cent last month from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, the lowest reading since March's identical figure and edging down from a 5.7 per cent rise in September. It was also below the median forecast of a 5.8 per cent increase in a survey of economists by Bloomberg News.