China industrial output growth slows to 17.3% in November

     BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Industrial output at Chinese companies with annual revenue of at least 5 million yuan (679,349 U.S. dollars) increased at an annual rate of 17.3 percent in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday.

    That was modestly lower, by 0.6 percentage point, than the figure for October. It was also the smallest increase for any month since February, when industrial output rose only 12.6 percent as many factories suspended production during the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday.

    "The slower pace in industrial output growth came as China's macro-economic tightening measures started to yield results," said Zhang Yansheng, head of the Research Institute of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, which is under the National Development and Reform Commission.

    China has raised interest rates five times so far this year, lifted the bank reserve ratio 10 times and slashed export tax rebates as it attempted to curb sizzling economic growth.

    During the January-November period, industrial output jumped 18.5 percent from a year earlier, the NBS stated.

    Output by the steel and textile industries experienced slower growth in November. Output for the ferrous metals smelting and processing industry rose 14.8 percent, three percentage points below the October rate.

    Production of crude steel hit 39.69 million tons in November, up 4.3 percent from a year earlier. The growth rate, however, was 8.9 percentage points lower than the October figure.

    Output for the textile sector increased by 14.3 percent last month, one percentage point less than in October.

    The slower growth rates were mainly a result of more cautious sentiment among manufacturers, who responded to slash export tax rebates. That was especially true for steel and textile makers, Zhang noted.