January-February sees lower industrial output growth and pick-up in apartment sales in China

BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/11

Industrial output growth slowed to 5 % y-o-y in January February, continuing a trend of steady decline in recent years that has largely been due to the falling heavy industry production. For example, production of metals, cement and glass all fell in the first two months of this year. In contrast, the production volumes of consumer goods such as cars and mobile phones were up. Retail sales growth remained relatively strong, increasing 10 % y-o-y in January-February.

Fixed investment climbed 10 % y-o-y in January-February. Private sector investment grew 7 %, while investment of the government and state-owned enterprises rose 20 %. Investment in infrastructure and the energy branch rose sharply. Investment in housing recovered a bit, and was up 3 % y-o-y in the same period.

Apartment sales picked up considerably in January-February compared to the first two months of 2015. Measured in terms of liveable floorspace, apartment sales in January-February were up 28 % y-o-y. Measured by value, apartment sales rose 44 %. New apartment starts, measured by floorspace, were up 14 % y-o-y.

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