BEIJING – China's industrial growth slowed to a five-month low in August, and retail sales also weakened, prompting a strong push to stabilize the world's second-largest economy.
The sluggish data released on Saturday contrasted with the strong export growth seen in August, underscoring the unevenness of China's economic recovery.
Industrial output in August grew by 4.5% year-on-year, down from 5.1% in July and marking the slowest growth since March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Saturday.
That missed expectations for 4.8% growth in a Reuters poll of 37 analysts.
Retail sales, a key measure of consumption, rose just 2.1% in August, down from a 2.7% increase in July amid bad weather and peak summer travel. Analysts had expected retail sales, which have been anemic all year, to grow by 2.5%.
President Xi Jinping on Thursday urged the authorities to strive to achieve the country's annual goals for economic and social development, state media reported, as more measures are expected to be taken to strengthen economic recovery.
China's economic slowdown has prompted global businesses to cut their China growth forecasts for 2024 below the government's official target of around 5%.
A prolonged housing slump has caused Chinese consumers to cut back on spending. Some experts have even proposed distributing shopping vouchers to combat the trend.
Premier Li Qiang said last month that the country would focus on promoting consumption and look for ways to increase domestic income.
A central bank official said last week that China still has room to lower the amount of money banks have to hold as reserves while facing some pressure to cut interest rates.
Data from the central bank on Friday showed that August's new yuan lending remained soft.
Investment in fixed assets rose 3.4% in the first eight months of 2024 from the same period last year, compared with an expected increase of 3.5%. It grew by 3.6% in the January to July period.
Cash-strapped local governments quickly issued bonds last month to build major projects, a move economists believe could spur investment and provide temporary relief to the economy.
Meanwhile, the troubled real estate sector continues to struggle to grow. Real estate investment in January-August contracted 10.2% from a year earlier, unchanged from the 10.2% slide in January-July.
While Beijing has stepped up efforts to rescue the housing market, many analysts say more aggressive measures are needed to help debt-laden developers, and encourage potential home buyers to return to the market.
Nomura analysts expect tougher measures to be issued in the fourth quarter.
