China's economy shows signs of recovery in August

By Aysu Bicer

ANKARA (AA) - Industrial production, retail sales, and fixed capital investments – the three leading indicators of Chinese economic growth – beat economists' expectations in August, hinting at a recovery, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday.

China's industrial production rose 4.2% year-on-year in August, compared with a market consensus of 3.8%.

Retail sales also climbed 5.4% in August, above expectations, following an annual increase of 2.7% in July.

Fixed capital investments, which exclude the agricultural sector, grew 5.8%, beating the 5.5% market forecast.

As a real estate crisis and harsh COVID-19 measures have been dragging down economic growth in China, Beijing is responding to this with large-scale stimulus and loose monetary policy.

The Chinese government has a growth target for this year of 5%.​​​​​​​