China's industrial production recorded a growth of 4.2%, in August, compared to the same period last year, according to data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of the Asian country and cited by Lusa.

The source said the figures represent a 0.4% increase over July and beat analysts' forecasts by the same margin.

Electricity, heating, gas and water production and supply saw the greatest recovery (+13.6%), followed by mining (+5.3%) and manufacturing (+3.1%).

Retail sales, writes Lusa, grew 5.4%, year-on-year. This rate exceeded the value of July (2.7%) and analysts' expectations (3.5%).

The official unemployment rate in urban areas fell again by 0.1% and ended at 5.3%, once again below the limit set by Beijing for this year (5.5%).

Chinese statistics did not report on the year-on-year change in fixed asset investment, but did report a 0.36% rise from the previous month, and the cumulative figure for the first eight months of the year, which stood at 5.8%, or 0.1% higher than the whole of the first seven months of 2022.

The GNE pointed out that despite international instability and severe heat waves and Covid-19 outbreaks in China, most indicators improved their performance compared to July, thanks in part to the supportive policies announced by the authorities.

However, the institution again warned that the foundations of China's economic recovery "are not solid" and that the international environment "remains complicated and serious."