As China’s economic slowdown moderates, analysts call for greater policy easing: ‘it will be a long haul back’
- Industrial production rose 0.7 per cent in May from a year earlier, while retail sales dropped 6.7 per cent last month
- Fixed-asset investments rose 6.2 per cent in the January-May period, while the surveyed jobless rate fell to 5.9 per cent last month
China’s economy showed initial signs of recovery in May in the wake of all-in efforts to stem downturn risks, while overall growth remained fragile and analysts called for strong support measures to sustain a solid recovery.
Key indicators for manufacturing and consumption also improved marginally in May, but pressure on the labour market persisted.
Industrial production, a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors, beat market expectations and reversed the previous month’s abrupt drop to rise by 0.7 per cent in May, year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Automobile production also picked up last month as pandemic controls were eased and manufacturing started returning to major production regions such as Shanghai and the northeast province of Jilin.
Fixed-asset investments – which Beijing has relied heavily on this year to stem downturn risks – rebounded in May with a growth of 4.7 per cent, from a rise of 2.3 per cent in April, though the year-to-date growth moderated to 6.2 per cent from 6.8 per cent in the first four months.