China March Industrial production +14.1% y/y (expected +18%) + retails sales & investment data

China 'activity' data for March 2021

Industrial Production +14.1% y/y MISS

• expected 18.0%

Industrial Production YTD to March +24.5% y/y MISS

• expected 26.5%, prior was 35.1%

Fixed Assets (excluding rural) YTD +25.6% y/y MISS

• expected 26.0%, prior was 35.0%

Retail Sales +34.2% y/y BEAT

• expected 28.0%

Retail Sales YTD +33.9% y/y BEAT

• expected 31.7%, prior was 33.8%

Retail sales with the beat is indicative of a recovery in domestic consumption. Good news for China which, as is so often the case, has been leaning on exports and the property market to keep the fire in the economy.

Growth data for Q1 was released at the same time:

• China Q1 2021 GDP: +0.6% q/q (expected +1.4%)

---

For background to this:

• Huge data dump coming from China on Friday - Q1 GDP, industrial production + more
• China GDP and March data due today - preview