BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s industrial output rose 5.9% in the first two months of the year from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, slowing from a 6.2% expansion in December but beating market expectations.
The data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) beat expectations for a 5.3% rise in a Reuters poll of 26 analysts.
Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 4.0% in January-February, quickening from a 3.7% rise in December. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 4.0%.
Fixed asset investment expanded 4.1%, versus expectations for a 3.6% rise. It grew 3.2% in 2024.
China publishes data for the two months in a combined release to smooth out the impact of the Lunar New Year holidays, which fall in either of the two months.
(Reporting by Kevin Yao, Ellen Zhang and Yukun Zhang; Editing by Kim Coghill)
