China's April economic data indicate continued recovery

China's economy continued to recover as industrial output grew robustly in April, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday. 

In April, China's industrial output from major enterprises increased by 6.7 percent year on year, picking up from 4.5 percent in March. 

"The delivery of announced policy stimulus would be key, given that industrial output is still the major contributor to growth," Bruce Pang, chief economist of JLL Greater China, told CGTN.

Meanwhile, the country's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 3.57 trillion yuan ($494 billion) in April, rising by 2.3 percent from a year ago but slower than the 3.1 percent growth in March.

Pang noted that consumers were still cautious about spending and had likely reduced their budgets in April, expecting bigger spending in May during the recent Labor Day holiday week.

China's consumption data expected to accelerate in May

"We expect consumption to register stronger momentum in May given the improving employment rate, solid growth of service consumption and additional policy spurs," Pang added.

Notably, in the first four months of the year, retail sales of services grew by 8.4 percent.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 percent in April, down 0.2 percentage point from the same period last year.

Fixed-asset investment rose by 4.2 percent year on year from January to April. Particularly, investment in high-tech manufacturing including in aviation, spacecraft and equipment manufacturing, increased by 49.6 percent.

Meanwhile, the NBS said the annual increase in consumer prices was stable while the decline in industrial producer prices narrowed. The consumer price index edged up 0.3 percent and the producer price index fell 2.5 percent in April.

Pang said the high base factor has disrupted the year-on-year growth momentum of other major indicators. 

"However, various indicators are growing steadily month on month, indicating that the economy is still expanding with resilience," he added.

(Cover via CFP)