China’s factory output rises 5.7% in March, retail sales growth slips to 1.7%

(Corrects fixed asset investment to increase of 1.8% in Jan-Feb, not ​1.9%, in last ‌paragraph)

BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) – China’s industrial output rose 5.7% in March from a year earlier, ‌slowing ​from 6.3% ⁠growth in January-February, ⁠as the fallout from the Iran war dampened momentum in the world’s ​second-largest economy.

The output data released by the ⁠National Bureau of ⁠Statistics (NBS) beat expectations ​for a 5.5% rise in ​a Reuters poll of 36 ‌analysts.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, grew 1.7% in March, down ⁠from the 2.8% growth in January-February. Analysts had forecast a ⁠2.3% ‌rise.

Fixed asset investment expanded ⁠1.7% in the ​first ‌quarter, versus expectations ​for 1.9% ⁠growth. It increased 1.8% in the first two months.

(Reporting by Ethan Wang and Ryan Woo;Editing by ​Shri Navaratnam)