China’s factory output growth last month slowed from a jump in March, while retail sales missed analyst expectations, indicating more pressure on the recovery in consumption.
Industrial production grew 9.8 percent from a year earlier, slower than the 14.1 percent surge in March, Chinese National Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday, but matching a consensus forecast by analysts from a Reuters poll.
Aluminum production rose 12.4 percent from March to a record monthly volume.
China’s economy showed a steady improvement last month, but new problems are also emerging, bureau spokesman Fu Linghui (傅令輝) told a news briefing in Beijing.
“The foundations for the domestic economic recovery are not yet secure,” he said.
Retail sales rose 17.7 percent year-on-year, much weaker than a 24.9 percent uptick expected by analysts and down from the jump of 34.2 percent seen in March.
Consumption should maintain a steady recovery, Fu said.
Growth in sales of home appliances dropped particularly sharply from the month before, falling from 38.9 percent growth on year in March to 6.1 percent last month, bureau data showed.
Meanwhile, China’s home prices grew at the fastest pace in eight months after curbs failed to stem buyer enthusiasm.
New home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, rose 0.48 percent last month from March, when they gained 0.41 percent, bureau figures showed.
Values in the secondary market, which faces less government intervention, climbed 0.4 percent, the same pace as a month earlier.
Buyer euphoria is persisting, with investors using real estate as a hedge against global inflation.
That has prompted authorities to issue a drumbeat of statements designed to cool down price expectations.
Year-to-date residential sales have more than doubled from the same period in 2019 in cities including Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing, China Real Estate Information Corp (中國房產信息集團) said.
Price gains accelerated across large and small cities as developers ramped up project launches during a traditionally fast season for sales to recoup cash.
Property sales surged 35 percent from a year earlier, a separate data release showed.
Price growth was particularly acute in tier 2 regional centers, given their looser restrictions and higher demand under further relaxing of hukou residential permits.
Cities that saw housing values climb 1 percent or more from March include Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Haikou, Hainan Province.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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