China’s factory output rises 5.7% in March, retail sales growth slips to 1.7%

[BEIJING] China’s industrial output rose 5.7 per cent in March from a year earlier, slowing from 6.3 per cent growth in January-February, as the fallout from the Iran war dampened momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.

The output data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) beat expectations for a 5.5 per cent rise in a Reuters poll of 36 analysts.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, grew 1.7 per cent in March, down from the 2.8 per cent growth in January-February. Analysts had forecast a 2.3 per cent rise.

Fixed asset investment expanded 1.7 per cent in the first quarter, versus expectations for 1.9 per cent growth. It increased 1.8 per cent in the first two months. REUTERS