China's factory output beats forecasts as Asia shakes off COVID slump
With the coronavirus largely under control in China, consumers are opening up their wallets again
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BEIJING - China’s factory output rose faster-than-expected in October and retail sales continued to recover albeit at a slower-than-forecast pace, as the world’s second-largest economy emerged from its COVID-19 slump.
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Industrial output climbed 6.9% in October from a year earlier, data from the National Statistics Bureau showed on Monday, in line with September’s gain. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 6.5% rise.
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The upbeat figures came as other Asian economic powerhouses also climbed out from their pandemic depths with Japan’s economy reporting its fastest quarterly growth on record.
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China’s industrial sector has staged an impressive turnaround from the pandemic paralysis seen earlier this year, helped by resilient exports.
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Now, with the coronavirus largely under control in China, consumers are opening up their wallets again in a further boost to activity.
China’s fourth-quarter economic growth will accelerate from the third quarter, Fu Linghui, spokesman of the National Statistics Bureau said, told reporters at a briefing.
Consumption prospects are improving, with the services industry showing good recovery momentum, Fu said.
Retail sales rose 4.3% on-year, missing analysts’ forecasts for 4.9% growth but faster than the 3.3% increase in September.
China’s auto industry reported robust 12.5% growth in October vehicle sales thanks to surging demand for electric cars and trucks.
Domestic tourism also saw a strong rebound over the Golden Week holiday last month, although levels were still well short of last year’s.
Fixed-asset investment rose 1.8% in January-October from the same period last year, compared with the 1.6% growth forecast and a 0.8% increase in the first nine months of the year.