Mubasher: China’s industrial production growth came at the slowest momentum since more than 17 years, as the world’s second top economy grapples with re-merging trade rows with the US.

Chinese industrial output grew 5% in May on annualised basis, its weakest pace since February 2002, compared with April’s reading of 5.4%, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

The negative industrial data reflected that an escalation trade conflict between Washington and Beijing has taken a heavy toll on the Chinese economy.

In the middle of last month, US President Donald Trump increased levies on a $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25%, a move to which China responded with tariff hike on around $60 billion of US imports.

Fixed-asset investment grew 5.6% year-on-year in the period between January and May, slowing down from 6.1% in the prior period ended April.

Private sector fixed-asset investment, which makes up around 60% of total investment in China, climbed by 5.3%, compared with a 5.5% gain in the four-month period ended April.

Retail sales rose by 8.6% last May from a year earlier, gaining momentum from a 7.2% in the prior month, rebounding from a 16-year trough.

By 8:10 am GMT, the Chinese yuan (CNY) saw a slight decline against the US dollar, with the USD/CNY pair inching down to CNY 6.9236.