China: Industrial production growth shoots up on policy stimulus in March
Industrial production increased 8.5% year-on-year in March, well above the 5.3% rise registered in January–February. The print overshot market expectations of a 5.9% increase and was the strongest result in over four years.
The reading reflected sizeable accelerations in all subcategories of the index, especially in the manufacturing sector.
On a month-on-month basis, industrial production increased 1.00% in seasonally-adjusted terms in March, more than doubling the 0.46% increase in February. Annual average growth in industrial production, meanwhile, rose from 5.9% in February to 6.2% in March.
Government support is slowing bearing some fruit and propelled industrial production growth in March. Moreover, industrial production likely benefited from the production of 5G infrastructure and equipment.