China economy slump goes on in May, with industrial growth lowest in 17 years amid US trade war escalation
- Industrial production grew by 5.0 per cent in May from a year earlier, down from 5.4 per cent last month and the lowest reading since 2002
- Retail sales grew by 8.6 per cent, up from April’s reading of 7.2 per cent, which itself was the lowest rate of growth since May 2003
China’s industrial economy continued to sag in May, data released on Friday showed, as the trade war with the United States continued to hang heavy on the world’s second largest economy.
A new batch of data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed further deterioration on April’s numbers, and pointed to an ongoing slump across key manufacturing and production sectors, many of which are reliant on strong exports.
Industrial production – a measure of the output of the industrial sectors in China’s economy, including manufacturing, mining and utilities – grew by 5.0 per cent in May from a year earlier, down from 5.4 per cent the month before and below the expectations of a poll of economists, which had predicted 5.5 per cent growth.
This was the lowest reading since February 2002, when it was 2.7 per cent.
Within industrial production, manufacturing output grew by 5.0 per cent year-on-year, down from 5.3 per cent in April. The figure measures a period in which the US more than doubled tariffs on US$200 billion of Chinese goods from 10 per cent to 25 per cent and indicates the damage being done by the ongoing trade war.