China's industrial output, retail sales drop
全国工业输出和零售量下降
New data released today shows that growth in China's fixed-asset investment, industrial output and retail sales all slowed to multi-year lows in the first two months of 2015. Those are signs that China's economy this year will expand at its weakest pace in 25 years.
Industrial output, a key indicator of GDP growth targets, rose 6.8 percent year-on-year, the slowest since December 2008. The January-February data also shows retail sales gaining 10.7 percent, the worst since February 2006.
China's fixed-asset investment growth, which for years was a major engine of the economy, expanded 13.9 percent. That's the lowest since 2001.
All of the numbers missed earlier forecasts.