BEIJING (AFP) - China's industrial output growth in October slowed to 15.7 percent year-on-year after a 16.1 percent gain in September, suggesting government lending curbs are cooling the economy.
Output, which totaled 588.5 billion yuan (58.9 billion dollars) worth of goods, eased from 17.2 percent in the same month last year to give the lowest reading in three months, the National Bureau of Statistics figures showed wednesday.
For the 10 months to October, output was up 16.9 percent to 4.37 trillion yuan, compared to 16.7 percent for the same period in 2003.
August industrial output grew 15.9 percent, up from 15.5 percent in July.
"Output of major energy, raw materials, some machinery, home appliances and electronic products is growing fast but car output is falling," the NBS said in a statement.
Car output for the month fell 14.2 percent year-on-year to 144,000 units.
Citigroup analyst Huang Yiping said the overall decrease compared to September was not "very significant" but a further "moderation" was expected in coming months as the government likely ratchets up macro-economic controls.
Following a spate of government dictated adminstrative measures aimed at curtailing overzealous lending practices, the world's fastest growing developed economy has shown some signs of a slowdown in recent months.
For the three months to September, China's economy grew 9.1 percent compared with a year earlier, after 9.8 percent in the first quarter and 9.6 percent in the second.
However, concerns that more needs to be done has prompted Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to repeatedly warn of the dangers of overheating and the need for further tightening.
Late last month, Beijing hiked interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade, suggesting the authorities would not let up in efforts to bring the economy onto a more sustainable growth rate.
In the country's power sector, output in October increased 15.8 percent, up four percentage points compared with the third quarter, while production of coal and natural gas rose 16.3 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively, compared with last year.
Raw steel and steel products jumped 25.4 percent and 21.5 percent compared with a year earlier, while cement, another sector which has been targeted for controls by the goverment, grew 13.3 percent.
Glass production was up 27.3 percent, the report said.
Machinery, power generating equipment, power station furnaces, gas turbines, combustion engines and rolled metal equipment jumped by between 50.7 and 135.6 percent, the NBS said.
Home appliances production surged in October with air conditioners rising 65.3 percent on an annual basis. Dishwashers were up 395 percent while personal computers, monitors and printers were up by between 35.9 to 79.6 percent.
Export shipments of all products rose 33.2 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan (350 billion dollars) in the January to October period, while last month alone they rose 33.8 percent to 343.4 billion yuan.
The sales-to-production ratio, an indication of current inventory levels, rose 0.16 percentage points to 97.79 percent in the 10 months period and was up 0.09 percentage point to 98.39 percent in October.
The data applies to all state-owned industrial firms and non-state industrial firms with annual sales above five million yuan.
11/10/2004 - 11:38 GMT - AFP