Chinese laborers working at a construction site at sunset in Chongqing, China on March 6, 2005.<\/p>\n
China Photos | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
BEIJING \u2014 China’s retail sales and industrial production picked up pace in August with better-than-expected growth, according to National Bureau of Statistics data released Friday.<\/p>\n
Retail sales grew by 4.6% in August from a year ago, beating expectations for 3% growth forecast by a Reuters poll. The increase was also faster than the 2.5% year-on-year pace in July.<\/p>\n
Industrial production grew by 4.5% in August from a year ago, better than the 3.9% forecast and faster than the 3.7% increase reported for July.<\/p>\n
Fixed asset investment,\u00a0however, grew by 3.2% year-on-year in August on a year-to-date basis. That missed expectations for a 3.3% increase and was slower than the 3.4% pace reported as of July.<\/p>\n
The figure was dragged down by a steeper drop in real estate investment,\u00a0and a slowdown in infrastructure investment.\u00a0Only manufacturing saw the pace of investment pick up.<\/p>\n
Statistics bureau spokesperson Fu Linghui said the real estate market was still in a period of “adjustment” and noted declines in sales and investment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/img><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The statistics bureau release described August data as showing “marginal improvement.”<\/p>\n “The national economy showed good momentum of recovery with high-quality development making solid progress and positive factors accumulated,” the statistics bureau release said. “However,\u00a0we should be aware that many unstable and uncertain factors in the external environment still exist.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/img><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Within retail sales, online sales of physical goods rose by 7.6% in August from a year ago, according to CNBC calculations of official data accessed via Wind.<\/p>\n Autos saw sales rise by 1.1%. Among the categories with faster growth were cosmetics, up by 9.7% and communication equipment, up by 8.5% in August from a year ago.\u00a0Catering sales grew by 12.4% during that time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Late Thursday, the People’s Bank of China<\/a> said that it was cutting the amount of cash that banks need to have on hand by 25 basis points, effective Friday. It was the second reserve requirement ratio<\/a> cut this year since one in March.<\/p>\n In the last several weeks, Beijing has announced a slew of measures to support the real estate market and consumption.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/img><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Monetary policy has remained relatively loose compared with aggressive rate hikes in the U.S.<\/a> and Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also effective Friday is a reduction in the foreign exchange reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions to 4%, from 6%. The planned cut was announced two weeks ago.<\/p>\n The central bank has also trimmed other benchmark rates, such as the one-year loan prime rate<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Moody’s on Thursday downgraded its outlook on China’s property sector to negative from stable. The firm expects sales to fall by around 5% over the next six to 12 months.<\/p>\n “While the Chinese government has recently strengthened policy support for the property sector, we expect the impact on property sales to be short-lived and differentiated between tiers of cities,” Cedric Lai, vice president and senior analyst at Moody’s, said in a release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Workers make pods for e-cigarettes on the production line at Kanger Tech, one of China’s leading manufacturers of vaping products, on September 24, 2019 in Shenzhen, China.<\/p>\n Kevin Frayer | Getty Images News | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Uncertainty about future income has kept consumer spending<\/a> relatively muted.<\/p>\n<\/a>More rate cuts<\/h2>\n
<\/a>China’s slowing economic growth<\/h2>\n