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Published 13:48 IST, September 16th 2019

China's economy slows down again, publishes weak data amid trade war

China's economy stains as it publishes disappointing data amid the China-US trade tensions. Industrial output fell to 4.4 per cent in August, lowest as of now

Reported by: Pragya Puri
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On September 16, China published disappointing numbers for industrial output, investment, and retail sales. These statistics led to signs of more strains in China’s economy amid trade tensions with the United States. In July the industrial output was recorded at 4.8 per cent, which fell to 4.4 per cent in August. It was the lowest growth recorded in the last 17 years. Other sectors of investment and retail saw a slight decline. According to the Bloomberg survey by the economic analysts, the growth was predicted to reach 5.2 per cent, but the results show a major decline from the expected mark.

Fu Linghui, spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics stated that, "We must be aware that international instabilities and uncertainties are increasing significantly, and that at home, economic structural issues are still prominent and the downward pressures on (the) economy are mounting,". The statement came after the release of data.

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Drop-in Sales and Investment 

On the other hand, the sales statistics also dropped by 0.1 per cent relative to the previous month which was recorded at 7.5 per cent. The decline also affected Beijing’s aims to increase domestic consumption. In the investment sector, the data recorded year-on-year growth of 5.5 per cent for the fixed assets in the initial eight months. Although the growth was 0.2 less than the initial seven months. Investments in real estate were also recorded slightly below the estimated mark. 

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Failed economic predictions 

The data published in Bloomberg predicted 7.9 per cent growth in the retail sector and 5.7 in investments. However, the real statistics led to disappointment and unfulfilled expectations. All the three sets failed to meet the mark predicted by the analysts. In the second quarter of the year, China's gross domestic product (GDP) was recorded at 6.2 per cent. This is considered as the weakest and slowest growth in the past 3 decades. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in an interview with Russian media which was later published on the Chinese government's website, that

'For China to maintain growth of 6.0 per cent or more is very difficult against the current backdrop of a complicated international situation and a relatively high base, and this rate is at the forefront of the world's leading economies.'

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READ: China Lifts Tariffs On US Soybeans, Pork After Trump Delays Tariffs

China make reforms to boost economic growth

In order to bring back the economic growth of China, the People’s Bank of China announced that it would cut the amount of cash lenders keeping them in reserve. This will help boost the economy by more amount of money circulating in the economy. According to Martin Lynge Rasmussen who is a Chinese Economist at Capital Economics believes that 'With a strong rebound unlikely any time soon, we anticipate that policymakers will ease monetary conditions further in the coming months,'. It is unlikely to reach mutual consensus anytime soon. Washington and Beijing, however, will extend the olive branches irrespective of the trade war talks in the coming month, with the US delaying new rounds of tariffs by another two weeks, hence China has exempted some of the products from the punitive duties. 

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13:16 IST, September 16th 2019