China’s economy cools down

BEIJING: China´s economy cooled further last month, with industrial output, fixed asset investment and retail sales missing expectations as the government extended a crackdown on debt risks and factory pollution.

Beijing is already in the second year of a campaign to reduce high levels of debt as authorities worry that riskier lending practices, especially in the real estate sector, could imperil the economy.

Data on Tuesday suggested policy makers are making progress in defusing financial risks by weaning China off its years-long addiction to cheap credit, and signalled moderating growth over the next few quarters.

Industrial output rose 6.2 percent year-on-year in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said, missing analysts´ estimates of a 6.3 percent gain and lagging a 6.6 percent increase in September.

Fixed-asset investment growth also slowed to 7.3 percent in the January-October period, from 7.5 percent in the first nine months. Analysts had expected an increase of 7.4 percent. "The moderation in activity data released today suggests that growth slowed in October and adds to our conviction that it will continue to do so in the quarters ahead," Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.

In the property sector, where authorities have tightened rules to flush out speculative financing that has helped drive a two-year boom, sales and new construction starts fell in October.