China's economy slows further in August as trade war bites

Beijing

CHINA'S industrial output and retail sales growth slowed further last month, adding pressure on the government for more policy easing.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that industrial output grew 4.4 per cent last month, its slowest rate in over 17 years, and well below analysts' expectations of 5.2 per cent. Retail sales missed expectations, with growth easing to 7.5 per cent, from 7.6 per cent in July. Analysts had forecast a slight rebound to 7.9 per cent.

While some of the slowdown is attributed to the shutdown of factories ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China - to ensure a blue sky on Oct 1 - the recent data shows that China is increasingly struggling with side effects from the trade war despite many stimulus measures implemented over the past…