Retail, Manufacturing Activity Exceeds Expectations In China

Factory and retail industry activity jumped in China during January and February, coming out ahead of expectations, Reuters reported.

National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures indicated that industrial output surged by 35.1 percent in January and February from the prior year, which was above a 7.3 percent year-on-year rise seen in December, and ahead of a median outlook for a 30 percent jump in a survey by the newswire. Moreover, retail sales jumped by 33.8 percent, which was quicker than a predicted 32 percent increase.

Workers usually return to their residences during the Lunar New Year, but a number of them remained in place in 2021 because of concerns over the pandemic. As a result, manufacturing facilities kept plugging away during that time, but the trend reportedly had an effect on consumer spending.

In addition, Liu Aihua, an NBS representative, cautioned per Reuters that “COVID-19 is still spreading around the world and global economic conditions are complex and severe; domestically, the imbalances of the recovery are still quite obvious.”

China has been able to bounce back quicker because of its ability to keep the pandemic in check before other large economies. It was the only large economy to register positive yearly growth last year. While the nation saw some fragmented pandemic outbreaks resurface in 2021, it reportedly was able to get them in check by the beginning of February.

The news comes as China released results in January indicating that its economy expanded by 2.3 percent in all of last year. As the South China Morning Post pointed out, it was the lowest yearly reading in decades.

At a more granular level, the fourth quarter showed growth of 6.5 percent, per the NBS. However, much of that expansion, as measured on a yearly basis, originated from industrial output, which expanded by 2.8 percent.

In separate retail news from the region, a report recently surfaced that retail upstart DMall is mulling a plan to file for an initial public offering (IPO).