Feng Li | Getty Images
Workers assemble televisions on the production line of Tianle Group Co., Ltd on July 3, 2012 in Shengzhou of Zhejiang Province, China.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted factory output would growth 6.2 percent in the first two months this year, picking up from December’s 6.0 percent as demand for manufactured goods improves at home and abroad.
Analysts had expected fixed-asset investment growth of 8.2 percent, quickening from 8.1 percent in the whole of 2016.
Growth of private investment quickened to 6.7 percent from 3.2 percent last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, suggesting an improved appetite from private firms to invest after a sharp loss of momentum in the last few years.
Private investment accounts for about 60 percent of overall investment in China.
Retail sales growth was well below expectations, however. Retail sales rose 9.5 percent in January-February from a year earlier. Analysts had forecasted they would rise 10.5 percent, easing from December.
