BEIJING, March 18 (Reuters) - China's industrial output grew 7.0% year-on-year in the January-February period, data showed on Monday, accelerating from the 6.8% pace seen in December and beating expectations, marking a solid start for 2024 and offering tentative relief to policymakers.
The reading released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) was significantly above expectations for a 5.0% increase in a Reuters poll of analysts.
Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose 5.5% in the first two months of the year, slowing from a 7.4% increase in December. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 5.2%.
Fixed asset investment expanded 4.2% in the two-month period from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.2% rise. It grew 3.0% in the whole of 2023.
Reporting by Albee Zhang, Ellen Zhang and Joe Cash; Editing by Sam Holmes
Source: Reuters