Industrial output of China up 18% in July

BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's industrial output expanded by 18percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.   

    The bureau said more than 98 percent of the industrial products were sold in July, 0.03 percentage points lower than the same period of last year. The export volume of industrial products stood at 608.5 billion yuan (80 billion U.S. dollars), up 22.2 percent.

    Among major industries, the transport facility manufacturing industry saw the biggest growth of 26.6 percent, followed by the general equipment manufacturing sector which rose by 23.5 percent. The textile industry grew by 15.8 percent and chemical industry 20.2 percent.

    The output of coal jumped by 12.7 percent to 196 million tons and power generation capacity increased by 15.5 percent to 291.6 billion kilowatt hour. Oil production dropped by 1.7 percent to 15.47 million tons.

    "The industrial output in the second half of this year would remain stable as the July figure dropped slightly," said Zhang Liqun, an economist with the State Council Development and Research Center.

    China's industrial output expanded by 18.5 percent in the first half of 2007. In June alone, industrial output jumped 19.4 percent year-on-year.

    Chinese retail sales in July rose 16.4 percent year-on-year to reach 699.8 billion yuan (92 billion U.S. dollars), according to the bureau.

    Another major economic barometer - consumer price index (CPI)- rose by a 33-month-high 5.6 percent in July on food price hikes compared with the same period of last year, said the bureau.

    Zhang predicted China's GDP will not grow drastically in the second half and the CPI will drop in the fourth quarter when the existing tightening policies take effect.

    The country's economy will enjoy fast growth with low inflation, he said.