MNI BRIEF: China Apr Production Accelerates; Retail Sales Jump

China's economy continued to recover over the last four months with major economic indicators catching up quickly, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed.

Industrial production increased 5.6% y/y in April, accelerating from March's 3.9% y/y increase, but weaker than the market consensus of 10.8% growth. The strong increase has helped push the January-April period industrial output, rising 3.6% y/y. Retail sales registered a 18.4% y/y jump in April – marking another peak since April 2021 – and exceeding last period's 10.6% y/y rise, but behind the 22% y/y consensus.

Fixed-asset investment in the first four months registered a 4.7% y/y increase, slower than both the 5.1% growth in Q1 and 5.7% consensus. Property investment fell 6.2% y/y, following the prior 5.8% decrease.

The economy continued to recover with more positive factors accumulating but China still needs to monitor challenges including the complex international environment as well as insufficient domestic demand, the NBS said.