China’s quarterly and December data dump is out and it’s further confirmation that the behemoth is slowing. Annual GDP came in slightly ahead of expectations at 7.7% for the year through December:
This is the lowest annual pace of growth since 1999. Quarterly growth was at 1.8% versus 2% expected.
The December monthly data shows more slowing. Industrial production fell to 9.7% from 10% previously and slightly below expected:
Fixed asset investment growth fell to a post GFC low of 19.6% from 19.9% in November, missing consensus by 2bps:
Retail sales growth fell one point to 13.6%:
The dollar bounced to 88 cents on the news but I do not expect that to last. There is nothing here to prevent ongoing iron ore weakness nor concerns about further Chinese slowing.
And to finish, here are the figures for new yuan lending for December released late last week:
Solid enough within a declining trend but shadow banking ain’t going away at all:
Expect more tightening.