Industrial output hit by storms

Annual industrial output growth slowed to 15.4 percent in the first two months from 17.4 percent in December, the slowest since December 2006, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday.

Industrial output has been mainly driven by sectors including equipment and non-metal mining products, which grew by around 20 percent in the January-February period, the statistics bureau said. Of the major products, only cement production fell, by 2.8 percent.

The slower pace in the first two months is mainly due to snowstorms that disrupted transport and have temporarily stopped production in some places since late January, and a drop in export demand, analysts said. Chinese companies rushed to export goods before year-end to cater to an overseas sales boom and to avoid the impact of a domestic tax policy change that's set to dampen exports.