Data provided by China's National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's industrial production grew faster than expected in October, despite new restrictions to control COVID-19 outbreaks and supply shortages.
In October, the volume of production increased by 3.55% per annum compared with an increase of 3.1% in September. Production was expected to grow by 3.0%.
The world's second-largest economy showed an impressive rebound after last year's pandemic downturn, but has since lost momentum as it suffers from slowing production, debt problems in the real estate market and COVID-19 outbreaks.
Retail sales have increased even as China has imposed new restrictions to combat a new wave of COVID 19 cases. In October, retail sales increased by 4.9% per annum against +4.4% in September. Sales were expected to grow by 3.5%.
Analysts suggest that China's central bank is likely to move cautiously to tighten monetary policy to support the economy, as slowing economic growth and rising factory inflation raise concerns about stagflation.
The data also showed that in the first 10 months, investments in fixed assets increased by 6.1% compared with an increase of 7.3% in January-September.