Mubahser: China’s business activities saw a mixed performance in April 2018, with a more rapid industrial production growth and a slower rate for investment and retail sales.

Year-on-year, value-added industrial output rose 7% last month and higher than the annual increase of 6% in March, National Bureau of Statistics of China stated on Tuesday.

April’s figure came slightly higher than the Wall Street Journal analysts’ forecast of 6.4% growth for the month.

On the other hand, fixed-asset investment outside rural households gained 7% between January and April, compared to the year-ago period, but slower than 7.5% annual increase recorded between January and March.

The construction activity growth indicator fell short of the analysts’ forecast of a 7.4% increase.    

Meanwhile, retail sales jumped 9.4% year-on-year in April, but slower than the 10.1% seen in March 2018.