MNI 5 THINGS: China Q4 Economy Continues to cool down to 6.4%

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's GDP continued to slow in Q4, but industrial output

and retail sales in December both recovered from the previous record low level,

while fixed-asset investment (FAI) remain stable, data released by China's

National Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed. 

     Here are five things MNI highlights from the data:

     - Q4 GDP growth came in at 6.4% y/y, in line with the median 6.4% forecast

polled by an MNI survey, slowing from 6.5% in Q3. In 2018, GDP grew at a rate of

6.6%, meeting the growth target of around 6.5% set earlier.

     - Industrial output growth came in at 5.7% y/y in December, recovering from

the ten-year low of 5.4% recorded in November, and beating the 5.4% forecast by

analysts polled by MNI. The gain was still at the second lowest level this year.

For the whole year, industrial production grew at 6.2%.

     - FAI grew 5.9% y/y in the January-December period, flat from the 5.9%

median in an MNI survey, and compared with the 5.9% in November. Property

investment cooled down to 9.5% in 2018, slowing down from the 9.7% gain in the

Jan-Nov period.

     - Retail sales growth rebounded to 8.2% y/y in December, rising from the

historical low of 8.1% reported in November, beating the median of 8.1% forecast

in an MNI survey. In 2018, the growth stood at 9.0%.

     - The surveyed unemployment rate rose to 4.9% y/y in December, 0.1

percentage point higher on a m/m basis. The surveyed unemployment rate in the 31

big cities came in  at 4.7%.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: wanxia.lin@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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