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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Business -> 
Economy shows gradual recovery
    2023-03-16  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

CHINA’S economic activity picked up in the first two months of the year, as consumption and infrastructure investment drove recovery from pandemic disruption.

Industrial output in the January-February period was 2.4% higher than a year earlier, data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed yesterday. The reading accelerated from a 1.3% annual rise in December.

Retail sales, a major gauge of China’s consumption, increased 3.5% on year in the first two months, higher than the 1.8% fall in December, but lower than the 4.0% growth expected by surveyed economists.

The data followed signs of strength in February purchasing managers indexes (PMIs) published March 1.

“Overall, the data confirm what more timely indicators, including the PMIs, had already suggested — that the fading of virus disruptions led to a rapid improvement in economic conditions at the start of the year,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics, in a note.

China combines major economic indicators in the first two months of the year to avoid distortions from the different timing for the Lunar New Year holiday when business operations are suspended with workers heading home for family reunions.

The COVID-sensitive catering sector has notably reaped benefits from China’s optimization of its COVID-19 response in December, with January-February revenue surging 9.2% from a year earlier, compared with an annual 14.1% fall seen in December, when widespread infections kept people at home.

“We expect China’s growth momentum to improve further in coming months, driven mainly by the ongoing consumption recovery and still-accommodative macro policy,” analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note.

Fixed-asset investment rose 5.5% on year in the January-February period, higher than the 5.1% increase recorded in 2022.

But two of its components moved in opposite directions.

Infrastructure investment in the two months surged 9.0% from a year before, driven by government spending aimed at supporting the economy. But property investment was still down 5.7%, reflecting the caution of home buyers and developers.

To bolster growth, the central bank ramped up liquidity injections for a fourth month in a row yesterday when rolling over maturing medium-term policy loans, though it kept its policy interest rate unchanged.

“The economy is gradually recovering this year, but it must be noted that the pandemic damaged corporate and personal balance sheets over several years, and they still need time for repair,” NBS spokesman Fu Linghui said. (SD-Agencies)

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