China released a range of data this morning, which, overall, surprised a bit on the downside. However, the data shows no signs of a collapse in the Chinese economy and, as such, brings a little relief to overall very pessimistic expectations for China.
While GDP growth was in line with consensus growing 1.8% q/q (Danske: 1.5% q/q) and 6.9% y/y (consensus: 6.8% y/y), industrial production disappointed, falling to 5.7% y/y (consensus: 6.0% y/y) from 6.1% in August. As a comparison, the low point for industrial production during the financial crisis in 2008 was 5.4%, so the industrial activity is comparable to this very weak period.
The monthly change in industrial production fell to 0.4% in September from 0.5% in August, so there is still no sign of a recovery here. Fixed asset investment (current prices) fell more than expected to 10.3% y/y year-to-date in September (consensus: 10.8%) from 10.9% in August. It is the lowest level in 15 years.
Finally, China has released data on retail sales, which showed an increase of 10.9% y/y in September (consensus: 10.8% y/y) up from 10.8% y/y in August.