BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - China's industrial production expanded at a slightly slower pace in May, the National Bureau of Statistics reported on Monday.
Industrial output logged an annual growth of 5.8 percent in May after rising 6.1 percent in April. That was also marginally below the 5.9 percent growth expected by economists.
Industrial production maintained a stable growth trend in May, but the external environment is changing in a complex way, domestic effective demand is still weak, and industrial enterprises are under pressure to make profits, the agency said.
Among three major categories, manufacturing output grew 6.2 percent from last year, and the mining industry advanced 5.7 percent. The output produced in the utility sector was 2.2 percent higher.
The slowdown in overall industrial output growth was mainly due to weak foreign demand amid US tariff pressures, despite both countries agreeing to a temporary truce.
'Despite the tariff truce, the contraction in industrial sales for export appears to have deepened last month,' Zichun Huang, China Economist at Capital Economics, said.
Meanwhile, the annual retail sales growth accelerated to 6.4 percent in May from 5.1 percent in April. Moreover, this was the sharpest growth since late 2023.
The jump in May was driven by a spike in holiday spending along with efforts to soften the impact of US tariff pressures and government subsidies on electronic items.
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