China June industrial output up 6.3% y-o-y, beats forecasts, retail sales up 9.8%

[BEIJING] China's industrial output grew 6.3 per cent in June from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, picking up from May's 17-year low and handily beating market expectations.

Analysts polled by Reuters had tipped a 5.2 per cent rise, compared with 5.0 per cent growth seen in May.

Fixed-asset investments for the first half of the year rose 5.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with a 5.5 per cent rise forecast by analysts.

Private sector investment in fixed assets, which make up 60 per cent of the country's total investments, rose 5.7 per cent in January-June, compared with a 5.3 per cent rise in January-May.

Retail sales for June rose 9.8 per cent in annual terms. Analysts had expected growth to cool to 8.3 per cent from May's 8.6 per cent.

China's trading partners and investors are closely watching the health of the world's second-largest economy as the year-long Sino-US trade war takes a heavier toll on businesses and investment, fuelling worries of a global recession.

REUTERS