China's latest key data for July released on Monday reflected continued economic recovery – albeit at a moderating pace – with the growth being attributed to government policies to stabilize the economy, as well as a resumption of production and supply following recent COVID-19 outbreaks.

Industrial output, a key economic indicator, went up 3.8 percent year on year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

Of these, the added-value of equipment manufacturing increased by 8.4 percent on a yearly basis, and high-tech manufacturing industries rose 5.9 percent, according to the NBS.

In terms of products, the output of green and intelligent products such as new-energy vehicle surged by 112.7 percent, while solar cells rose 33.9 percent. Thanks to auto-related stimulus measures and strong external demand, overall auto output growth rose to 31.5 percent year on year in July from 26.8 percent in June.

Retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, went up 2.7 percent year on year in July, although the figure was down 0.4 of a percentage point from the previous month.

In the first seven months, China's total retail sales of consumer goods stood at 24.63 trillion yuan, down 0.2 percent from last year.

"Although the growth of retail sales tempered in July, the recovery trend of consumption remains unchanged," NBS spokesperson, Fu Linghui, said.

Online consumption continued to shore up retail sales. In the first seven months, online sales of physical goods climbed 5.7 percent year on year, up 0.1 of a percentage point from that in the January-June period.

Auto sales rose by 9.7 percent. The gold, silver and jewelry category saw the biggest gain in sales, up by 22.1 percent.

China's fixed-asset investment went up 5.7 percent from previous year in the first seven months of this year, NBS data also showed. 

Infrastructure investment increased by 7.4 percent year on year in the January-July period, and indicated three consecutive months of growth. During the same period, investment in high-tech industries climbed by 20.2 percent on a yearly basis, remaining at the same levels seen in the first half of 2022.

Going forward, China will push forward with major investment projects, make good use of special bonds and government investment, said Luo Yifei, chief statistician of NBS.

(With input from Xinhua; Cover via CFP)