BEIJING, May 13 (Reuters) - China's annual industrial output growth slowed to 7.3 percent in April from 8.3 percent in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.
The median forecast of 30 economists polled by Reuters was for a rise of 8.3 percent. [ID:nPEK205895]
In the first four months, factory output was up 5.5 percent from a year earlier; in the first quarter it was up 5.1 percent.
(Percent change from a year earlier): _______2009______ ____________________2008___________________ Apr Mar Jan-Feb Dec Nov Oct Sep Aug Jul Jun May Apr 7.3 8.3 3.8 5.7 5.4 8.2 11.4 12.8 14.7 16.0 16.0 15.7 (Reporting by Langi Chiang and Alan Wheatley; editing by Ken Wills)