Factory Output
Industrial production rose 9.7 percent in December from a year earlier, today’s report showed. That compared with the 9.8 percent median forecast of analysts and a 10 percent gain in November. Retail sales rose 13.6 percent from a year earlier, matching a median estimate.
Fixed-asset investment excluding rural households increased 19.6 percent in the January-to-December period from a year earlier, the report showed. That compared with the 19.8 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey and a 20.6 percent pace in 2012.
The nation’s vehicle sales growth may slow this year to 8 percent to 10 percent from 14 percent in 2013, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Jan. 9. Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., the Chinese automaker whose parent owns Volvo Cars, sold fewer cars than it targeted in 2013, and forecast sales growth will slow to about 6 percent this year from 14 percent last year.