Four key indicators from China. The January-February data has been combined to account for the moveable Lunar New Year holidays each year. Data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Industrial Production y/y +7.0%, a beat
- expected +5.0%, prior +6.8%
Retail sales y/y +5.5%, a beat
- expected +5.2%, prior +7.4%
Fixed asset investment y/y +4.2%, a beat
- expected 3.2%, prior +3.0%
Unemployment rate 5.3%, rising from December.
Indicative of the debt-damaged property sector, property investment in the January – February period is down 9.0% y/y
The NBS says both macroeconomic policy and the economy carried on recovering.
More on the troubled property sector:
- Property sales by floor area down 20.5% y/y in
January-February (prior -23.0% in December) - New construction starts measured by floor area -29.7% y/y (prior -11.6%)
- Funds raised by China’s property developers were -24.1% y/y (prior -17.8%)
China has been increasing supportive measures to boost the sector. For example, authorities launched a “whitelist” mechanism in January, channelling funds from state banks into local property projects identified by city governments as justifiable for financing support.