China Industrial Production, Retail Sales Rise Less Than Expected

(RTTNews) - China's industrial production and retail sales grew less-than-expected in April, damping hopes of stabilization in the economy.

Industrial production rose 6 percent year-on-year, which was less than the 6.5 percent growth economists had forecast. In March, production increased 6.8 percent.

The National Bureau of Statistics attributed the slower growth in production to weak external demand, poor performance in the mining industry, rising commodity prices and seasonal factors.

The agency also reported that the fixed asset investment annual growth slowed to 10.5 percent in the January to April period from 10.7 percent in the January to March period. The easing in the figure was mainly due to sluggish investment in manufacture and infrastructure sectors.

Given its large size, the continued slowing in private investment growth warrants high attention, the NBS said. Private investment rose just 5.2 percent in the first four months of the year versus 5.7 percent in the March quarter.

A separate report from NBS showed that retail sales rose 10.1 percent year-on-year in April, which was also less than the 10.6 percent gain economists' had expected.