• China’s economic recovery remains patchy as industrial production beat expectations but retail sales fell short, putting more pressure on Beijing to roll out supportive policies to juice growth.
• Industrial output rose 6.6% last month from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. While that beat a median estimate for a 5.7% increase, the figure was distorted by comparisons to one year ago, when Covid lockdowns were throttling activity.
• Retail sales expanded 10.1%, slower than a projected 12.5% jump, underscoring the threat posed by weak consumer demand to the world’s second largest economy.