China should be wary of a rebound in fixed-asset investment after industrial output hit a 10-year high in the first quarter, a senior state planning official has warned.
Industrial output grew by 18.3 per cent in the first quarter, 1.6 percentage points higher than in the corresponding period last year, Zhu Hongren , vice-head of the economic operations department of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said yesterday.
Mr Zhu said that the rapid growth in industrial output would increase the risk of volatility in economic development and heighten demand for energy.
'If industrial production continues to expand, it will not only accelerate economic growth, lead to over-consumption of resources and energy, and increase emissions of pollutants, but also make it more difficult to adjust economic structures, put pressure on economic stability and therefore possibly lead to big swings in the economy,' he said.
Mr Zhu said soaring industrial output had put pressure on energy supplies, as industrial energy consumption in the first quarter rose by 16.8 per cent, 5.5 percentage points higher than in the first quarter last year.
He predicted that industrial output would continue to rise rapidly in the second quarter, increasing the demand for fuel, especially diesel.
