China’s economy picked up pace in the first quarter as Beijing’s plan to boost growth by pouring money into factories began to show results.But that approach is leading to a lopsided recovery and stoking trade tensions overseas.
China's March industrial probability output grew 4.5% from a year earlier, slowing from the 7.0% pace seen in the January-February period, increasing pressure on policymakers to offer more stimulus to bolster an uneven economic recovery.
Tuesday's official data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) came in below expectations for an increase of 6.0% in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, jumped 3.1% in March, slowing from a 5.5% increase in the January-February period. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 4.6%.
Investment in manufacturing however,rose 9.9%. But there were also signs of the strategy's limits. Data showed a growing mismatch between ballooning supply and lackluster demand, with China's factories reporting a drop in the amount of available production capacity they are using.
Urban fixed asset investment expanded 4.5% in the first three months of 2024 from the corresponding period a year earlier, versus expectations for a rise of 4.1%. It grew 4.2% in the January-February period respectively.
