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Investing.com-- Chinese industrial production grew more than expected in the first two months of 2025 as continued economic support from Beijing helped local producers weather potential headwinds to foreign demand from a brewing trade war with Washington.
Improving consumer spending, especially amid government subsidies and during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, saw retail sales grow as expected in the period.
Industrial production rose 5.9% year-on-year in the Jan-Feb period, government data showed on Monday. The print was higher than expectations of 5.3%.
China’s factories were the primary target of stimulus measures released through late-2024, as Beijing sought to support its biggest economic engines. Local producers also ramped up output as the front-loaded exports before the imposition of steep trade tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump earlier this month imposed 20% tariffs against the world’s second-largest economy, ramping up the potential for a renewed Sino-U.S. trade war.
But Beijing is expected to dole out even more economic support to offset the headwinds from such a conflict.
China’s Jan-Feb retail sales- a key gauge of consumption- rose 4.0%, in line with expectations. The strong print comes after Beijing also targeted consumer spending with its recent stimulus measures. Subsidies on staples and consumer electronics were the most notable of these measures, as China looks to boost private spending and reverse a years-long disinflationary trend.
Beijing over the weekend outlined more details for its plans to boost consumption.
Other data points released on Monday provided mixed cues on the Chinese economy. Fixed asset investment in the Jan-Feb period rose 4.1%, much more than expectations of 3.2%.
But unemployment rose to 5.4% from 5.1%, against expectations it would remain steady.