The mainland's industrial output growth cooled the most in more than three years last month, a further sign that Beijing will have to prepare more aggressive measures to counter a worse-than-expected economic slowdown.
Industrial growth - an important barometer of gross domestic product - slowed to 9.2 per cent year on year last month from 9.5 per cent in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.
The data, which was worse than the widely expected 9.7 per cent expansion, prompted economists to review their GDP growth predictions. Barclays Capital lowered its forecast for economic growth this year from 8.1 per cent to 7.9 per cent.
'We continue to expect growth to show a modest and gradual recovery in the second half, but also believe more policy support in the third quarter is necessary to ensure an 8 per cent growth this year,' the Barclays economists said in a research note. Last month, steel output rose 6.5 per cent from a year ago, cement was up 6.1 per cent, non-ferrous metals climbed 4.1 per cent, cars increased 12.3 per cent and electricity gained 2.1 per cent.
Other July data released yesterday suggested there was no turnaround in sight for the world's second-largest economy, despite the leadership's focus on boosting growth.
Fixed-asset investment growth remained flat and retail sales growth slowed in nominal terms.
Consumer inflation cooled to a 30-month low in July, providing further room for policy easing. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.8 per cent last month from a year ago - the slowest in 30 months. And the producer price index (PPI) fell 2.9 per cent from a year ago in July, continuing a downward trend since March, according to the statistics bureau.