China’s industrial output slows as factories close to combat carbon emissions

Manufacturing output in China slipped to a year-on-year rate of 7.2 per cent in November, failing to match the 7.7 per cent achieved in October and falling below the target of 7.5 per cent for the month.

 

The figures, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, reflect the impacts of a widespread closure of factories in the country as it attempts to bring down its carbon emissions. 

 

Beijing confirmed its decision to go ahead with the closures while at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation in early November. China is currently the world's biggest emitter of carbon dioxide.

 

But the results are nonetheless a significant improvement compared to August, when growth was 6.9 per cent – its lowest since 2008. 

While industrial output is in decline, retail sales are on the rise in China. They rose at an annual rate of 11.7 per cent in November, exceeding October's figure of 1.5 per cent. 

 

This was the first rise in six months, since a cooling of the property market resulted in five consecutive months of deceleration prior to that.