Weakening momentum tests nation's resolve to restructure

Electricity production grew 4.4 percent to 425 billion kilowatt hours in April, the lowest level in 11 months, the NBS said.

All figures released on Tuesday were below the expectations of analysts, who'd believed that growth momentum picked up slightly from March.

Jan, Feb figures show chill in economy

China's April services growth quickens slightly

The Consumer Price Index for April, released last week, signaled sluggish domestic demand. The index hit an 18-month low of 1.8 percent.

"The economy is still slowing," Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS AG in Hong Kong, said in a note.

The government's "mini-stimulus" has not yet turned around growth momentum," and the government may ease credit by loosening restrictions on lending to homebuyers and local government financing vehicles, Wang said.

The most important figures are the ones showing a "continued decline in property sales and new starts," Wang said. "The latest data are indeed worrisome."

Already, financial officials have told banks to accelerate home loan approvals and ensure that mortgages are "reasonably" priced, according to the People's Bank of China statement on Tuesday.

Top officials so far have publicly ruled out any massive stimulus package. Instead, they've introduced smaller measures, including a cut in rural banks' required reserve ratio, tax breaks for small enterprises and increased spending on subsidized housing and rail projects.

Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said at a Saturday meeting that China will not resort to any large-scale stimulus to boost the economy. Rather, it will only "fine-tune" its policy to counter economic cycles.

Many economists argued the stimulus measures so far aren't sufficient and called for stronger quantitative easing to boost growth.

Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Page

Previous Page 1 2 3 Next Page