MNI DATA IMPACT: China Aug Spending Turns Positive

China's economic recovery continues to gain momentum as August economic indicators were stronger than expected, with consumption reversing the downward trend for the first time this year, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed.

The accumulated growth of industrial output in the period to August also turned positive for the first time this year on increased demand, while recovering investment in property and infrastructure continued to underpin the rebound.

Here are some of the data highlights:

• Industrial production grew 5.6% y/y in August, up from the 4.8% gain in July and outperforming the 5.2% forecast. Accumulated growth for the first eight month rose 0.4% y/y, reversing the 0.4% decline earlier.
• Retail sales turned positive for the first time this year to grow 0.5% y/y in August, reversing the 1.1% decline in July, outshining the 0.0% projected result.
• Fixed-asset Investment fell 0.3% y/y for the first eight months, the smallest fall this year, narrowing from the 1.6% fall in the Jan-Jul period and better than the projection of 0.4%. This was partly due to the slow recovery in manufacturing investment, which fell 8.1% after the 10.2% decline in the Jan-Jul period.
• Infrastructure investment growth recovered to -0.3% in Jan-Aug from the 1.0% fall in the first eight months. Meanwhile, property investment growth expanded to 4.6% y/y, growing for the third month from the previous 3.4%.
• Registered urban unemployment edged down 0.1 percentage point to 5.6% from July. The rate in 31 major cities was also down 0.1 pp to 5.7%.