China's industrial production beats expectations

China's industrial production grew 7 percent year-on-year in April led by rapid growth in high technology and equipment manufacturing sectors, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday.

April's industrial production grew faster than economists' expectation and was 1 percentage point higher than the previous month, according to the NBS.

Investment in the first four months saw slower growth, with total investment in fixed assets expanding by 7 percent year-on-year, which was 0.5 percentage point lower than that of the first three months, official data showed.

Consumption continued to grow steadily in April. Total retail sales of consumer goods grew 9.4 percent year-on-year to 2.85 trillion yuan ($450 billion). The growth rate was 0.7 percentage point lower than the previous month.

Liu Aihua, an NBS spokeswoman, said at a news conference that some economic indicators showed fluctuations in April but the long-term economic trend remains sound and the country's growth has been increasingly driven by new industries and high-tech sectors.

China's employment was also sound with unemployment rate dropping in April, another indication of steady economic growth, Liu said. The surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas was 4.9 percent in April, 0.2 percentage point lower than that of the previous month, according to the NBS.