MNI DATA IMPACT: China May Ind Output Keeps Rising, Sales Up

     BEIJING (MNI) - China's major economic indicators continued to pick up in

May for the third consecutive month after steep falls in spring due to the

coronavirus outbreak, according to data released by the National Bureau of

Statistics on Monday.

     Here are some of the data highlights: 

     - Industrial production grew 4.4% y/y in May, accelerating from the 3.9%

gain in April but underperforming the projected 5.0% growth. The NBS said some

sectors and products saw weaker rebounds in May, and the accumulated growth for

the first five months remained negative at -2.8% y/y, warning of greater

external uncertainties.

     - Retail sales fell -2.8% y/y, recovering from the -7.5% decline in April.

This was basically in line with the -3.0% projected result. The NBS said the

scale of retail goods sales was close to the level of last May, with the figure

falling -0.8% y/y.

     - Fixed-asset Investment fell -6.3% in the first five months, picking up

moderately from the -10.3% dive in the Jan-Apr period and basically meeting the

-6.1% projection. This was partly due to the slow recovery in manufacturing

investment, which fell -14.8% y/y after the -18.8% slump in Jan-Apr.

     - Infrastructure investment growth recovered to post a fall of -6.3% y/y in

the Jan-May period from the -11.8% fall in the first four months. Meanwhile,

property investment growth rebounded to -0.3% y/y from the previous -3.3%.

     - Registered urban unemployment decelerated slightly to 5.9% in May from

April's 6.0%. While the rate in 31 major cities edged up 0.1 percentage point to

5.9% from the previous month.

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

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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