Factory output in China grew at a faster rate than expected last month, official data showed on Monday, weathering a brutal trade war with Washington.
Industrial production in the export powerhouse grew 6.1% on-year in April, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The reading was higher than the 5.7% forecast in a Bloomberg survey, but still lower than the 7.7% jump recorded for March.
“The national economy withstood pressure and grew steadily in April,” the NBS says, acknowledging a “complex situation of increasing external shocks and layered internal difficulties and challenges”.
China and the United States (US) last week agreed to slash sweeping tariffs on each other’s goods for 90 days, raising hopes the global economy can avoid a major downturn.
In addition to heightened trade tensions, Beijing has also been battling a persistent slump in domestic spending, threatening its official growth target for this year of around 5%.
Data on Monday showed retail sales, a key gauge of domestic demand, grew 5.1% year-on-year last month, short of the 5.8% growth forecast by Bloomberg.
The reading also marked a slowdown from March’s 5.9% growth.
Meanwhile, China’s surveyed unemployment rate edged down slightly to 5.1%, from 5.2% in March, according to the NBS.
“Economic activities softened only marginally in April as exports stayed resilient despite higher US tariffs,” Pinpoint Asset Management president and chief economist Zhiwei Zhang wrote in a note.
“Now that the tariffs have been cut significantly, I expect exports to remain strong,” Zhang says, adding that “economic momentum in the second quarter will likely be stable”.
Adding to woes is a years-long downturn in the once-booming property market, which previously represented a key engine for the country’s economy.
April saw the price of new residential properties contract in 67 out of 70 surveyed cities, reflecting continued consumer caution, according to the data.
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