BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s industrial output rose 6.4% in July from a year ago, well behind expectations, official data showed on Monday, amid signs of increasing pressure on China’s economy.
Analysts in a Reuters poll had expected industrial output to rise 7.8% last month after an 8.3% uptick in June.
Retail sales grew by 8.5% in July from a year earlier, compared with a forecast 11.5% rise and sharply down from June’s 12.1% surge.
Fixed asset investment rose 10.3% in the first seven months of the year from the same period a year earlier. Analysts in the poll had expected the fixed asset investment to rise 11.3% after a 12.6% increase in the first six months of the year.
China’s economy has rebounded to its pre-pandemic growth levels, driven by surprisingly strong exports, but the expansion is losing steam as businesses grapple with higher raw material prices and global supply chain bottlenecks.
(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Gabriel Crossley; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)
