China November industrial output growth slows to 10pc as retail sales rise

China’s industrial production growth slowed in November but retail sales expanded at a faster pace, official figures showed on Tuesday, suggesting a mixed picture for the world’s second-largest economy.

Industrial output, which measures production at factories, workshops and mines, rose 10.0 per cent in November year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced.

That was a slowdown from the 10.3 per cent expansion recorded in October, but matched the median forecast of 11 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires.

Retail sales, a key indicator of consumer spending, rose 13.7 per cent in November from the year before – an acceleration from the 13.3 per cent registered in October.

“Today’s data could be either market neutral or slightly positive,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists Lu Ting, Zhi Xiaojia and others wrote in a report.

They added the figures might raise expectations for stronger growth in the current fourth quarter, while “the structure of the economy seems to be improved towards consumption”.