Growth in China’s industrial output, retail sales and fixed asset investment all fell to multi-year lows during January and last month, official data yesterday showed, as the world’s second-largest economy expands at its slowest pace in a quarter of a century.
Industrial output, which measures production at China’s factories, workshops and mines, rose 6.8 percent year-on-year in January and last month, China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said.
That was the lowest since a reading of 5.7 percent in December 2008, according to previous figures.
Retail sales saw annual growth of 10.7 percent during the first two months of this year from the year before, the NBS said, the worst since 9.4 percent in February 2006.
Fixed asset investment, a measure of government spending on infrastructure, expanded 13.9 percent year-on-year during the period, the lowest for 13 years since 13.7 percent for the whole of 2001, the NBS added.
The NBS released statistics covering two months to ease out distortions due to last month’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Data so far this year have indicated a further slowing and the People’s Bank of China late last month cut benchmark deposit and lending interest rates for the second time in three months, citing “historically low inflation.”
Chinese GDP expanded 7.4 percent last year, the worst result since 1990, and leaders last week lowered the country’s GDP growth target for this year to “approximately 7 percent,” from last year’s objective of about 7.5 percent.
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