China: Industrial production growth holds steady in October

In October, industrial production expanded 6.1% over the same month of last year, which matched the previous month’s result but undershot the 6.2% increase that market analysts had expected. October’s reading reflected stronger growth in manufacturing production and electricity, gas and water supply activities, which was partially offset by a drop in the mining subcomponent.

On a monthly basis, industrial production expanded 0.50% in seasonally-adjusted terms in October, which was slightly above the 0.46% increase in September. After following an uninterrupted downward trajectory since late 2013, the trend now seems to be towards stabilization. Annual average growth in industrial production remained stable at the previous two months’ 6.0% in October.

For 2016, FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect industrial production to grow 6.0%, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s projection. In 2017, the panel sees industrial production growth falling to 5.6%, which is also up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s estimate.