(Photo: chinadaily.com.cn)
China's industrial value-added output growth slowed to 13.3 percent year-on-year in May this year, touching the lowest level since last November, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Tuesday.
The better-than-expected year-on-year industrial value-added output growth in May was 0.1 percentage point lower than that in April, according to NBS. The market expected the growth for May to be 13.2 percent year-on-year.
The May data took the industrial value-added output growth in the first five months of this year to 14 percent, down 0.2 percentage point from the January-April period, NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said at a press conference.
On a monthly basis, the industrial value-added output expanded by only 1.03 percent in May from April, Sheng said.
Industrial value-added output measures the final results of industrial production, or in other words the value of gross industrial output minus intermediate inputs, such as raw materials and labor costs.
Analysts said the industrial slowdown was the result of efforts by the government to fight inflation and restructure the economy.
Zhou Wenyuan, a fixed-income analyst with the Guotai Junan Securities, said the NBS data showed the economy was not as bad as expected.
In analysis of the industrial output growth figures by sectors, all 39 sectors posted gains in May. The general equipment manufacturing sector led the gain with a year-on-year increase of 18.9 percent.
Regarding sales of industrial products, 98.1 percent of products produced in May were sold, 0.4 percentage point higher than a year earlier.
The NBS also released other economic indicators such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), fixed-asset investment and retail sales figures.
The CPI rose to a 34-month high of 5.5 percent year-on-year in May, well above the government's full-year inflation control target of 4 percent.
Source:Xinhua
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