- Title: China July industrial output growth falls to 17-yr low as trade war escalates
- Date: 14th August 2019
- Summary: DONGGUAN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA (FILE - OCTOBER 17, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKERS WORKING ON LITHIUM ION BATTERY PRODUCTION LINE ZHOUSHAN, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA (FILE - APRIL 24, 2018) (REUTERS) CONTAINERS AT PORT VARIOUS OF CRANES MOVING CONTAINERS
- Embargoed: 28th August 2019 06:27
- Keywords: slowdown trade war Chinese economic slowdown Chinese economy exports China stats bureau trade dispute China statistics bureau Liu Aihua industrial output
- Location: BEIJING/DONGGUAN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE/ZHOUSHAN, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA
- City: BEIJING/DONGGUAN, GUANGDONG PROVINCE/ZHOUSHAN, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA002AS6UMO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:China reported a raft of unexpectedly weak July data on Wednesday (August 14), including a surprise drop in industrial output growth to a more than 17-year low, underlining widening economic cracks as the trade war with the United States intensifies.
Industrial output grew 4.8% in July from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed, lower than the most bearish forecast in a Reuters poll.
Speaking at a news conference in Beijing, Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman from China's national bureau of statistics said "given the complicated and grave external environment and the mounting downward pressure on the economy at home, the foundation for the sustainable and healthy development of the economy still needs to be consolidated."
Retail sales growth was also weaker than the most pessimistic forecast, rising 7.6% in July from a year earlier, compared with 9.8% in June and analysts' expectations of 8.6%. When asked, Liu put this down to a drop in auto-sales in July.
China's economy has been slow to respond to a flurry of support measures rolled out since last year, with growth cooling to a near 30-year low in the second quarter. Business confidence also remains shaky, weighing on investment. Investors fear a longer and costlier trade war between the world's two largest economies could trigger a global recession.
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