China’s June factory output beat forecast, retail sales slow

[BEIJING] China’s industrial output grew 6.8 per cent year-on-year in June, quickening from the 5.8 per cent pace in May and beating forecasts, but retail sales growth slowed down, official data showed on Tuesday.

The industrial output data, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), beat expectations for a 5.7 per cent increase in a Reuters poll and marked the quickest growth since March.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 4.8 per cent in June, slowing from 6.4 per cent growth in May. Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 5.4 per cent.

Fixed asset investment expanded 2.8 per cent in the first six months this year from the same period a year earlier, compared with the expectations for a 3.6 per cent rise. It grew 3.7 per cent in the January to May period. REUTERS