China's economy continues to improve despite challenges

China's economy continued to rebound in April while pressures persisted amid an uneven recovery, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

China's value-added industrial output - a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors - grew by 6.7 percent in April from a year earlier after a 4.5 percent rise in March, figures released by the NBS showed.

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, rose 2.3 percent year-on-year in April versus the 3.1 percent rise in March.

Fixed-asset investment - a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment - increased by 4.2 percent in the January-April period year-on-year and grew 4.5 percent in the first quarter.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5 percent in April, down from 5.2 percent in March, according to the NBS.

The NBS said the Chinese economy continued to recover in April with improvement in key indicators including industrial production, exports, employment and prices.

Meanwhile, the bureau warned of pressures and challenges from a more complicated and grimmer external environment and mounting uncertainties, calling for further moves to better implement existing policies and consolidate the economic recovery trend.

ouyangshijia@chinadaily.com.cn