China's industrial production and retail sales growth eased in April, signaling that the government will struggle to achieve its growth target this year in the absence of any stimulus.
Industrial production grew 8.7 percent year-on-year in April, which was slightly slower than the 8.8 percent rise seen in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Production was forecast to rise by 8.9 percent.
Retail sales advanced 11.9 percent in April from a year ago, while the annual growth was forecast to remain unchanged at March's 12.2 percent.
Today's data disappoint consensus hopes for further evidence of a rebound at the start of the second quarter, economists at Capital Economics said.
But it is important to remember that, after years of booming investment, the ongoing correction in real estate construction is welcome as long as it doesn't turn into a crash, they added.
During January to April, fixed asset investment increased 17.3 percent compared to a 17.6 percent growth logged during January to March and expectations for a 17.7 percent rise.
Another report from the NBS showed that housing sales decreased 9.9 percent to CNY 1.53 trillion in the January to April period. Investment in the property market, at the same time, surged more than 16 percent.
In the first quarter, China's economy grew 7.4 percent, the slowest pace in one and a half years. The slowdown was attributed to weak external demand and property investment.
The government targets 7.5 percent GDP growth for this year, but resisted calls for additional stimulus to achieve short-term goals.
Data released by the People Bank of China on Monday showed that bank lending slowed, while money supply growth accelerated in April. Banks lent CNY 774.7 billion worth of loans in April, lower than a CNY 1.05 trillion loans provided in March.
The broad M2 money supply growth advanced to 13.2 percent from 12.1 percent increase in March.
This month, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development forecast China's growth to slow with measures to phase out excess industrial capacity amid investment remaining weak in response to tighter credit conditions.
The Paris-based organization projects 7.4 percent growth for China this year and 7.3 percent in 2015.
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