Official: Economic growth within reasonable range

China's economy showed signs of softening in July, which could prompt more policy easing and supportive measures to stimulate growth, analysts said on Wednesday.

Industrial output rose 4.8 percent year-on-year in July, down from 6.3 percent in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Retail sales grew by 7.6 percent year-on-year to 3.3 trillion yuan ($471 billion) in July, down from 9.8 percent in June. Fixed-asset investment rose by 5.7 percent year-on-year in the January to July period, slowing from 5.8 percent in the January to June period.