China July factory output growth slows to 9.2%

Data likely to reinforce expectation that China will further loosen monetary policy before Sep-end

Annual growth in China's factory output slowed to 9.2 percent in July, the weakest in just over three years and below market expectations, official data showed on Thursday.

Analysts had forecast China's industrial output to pick up slightly last month to grow 9.8 percent in July from a year ago, a whisker above three-year lows of 9.3 percent hit in April.

Retail sales rose 13.1 percent in July from a year ago, missing forecasts for a 13.7 percent rise.

Fixed asset investment, which accounted for half of China's net economic growth in the first-half of 2012, grew 20.4 percent between January and July compared to the year earlier period, in line with expectations for a 20.5 percent expansion.

The data is likely to reinforce market expectations that China will further loosen monetary policy before the end of September to lift an economy mired in its worst slowdown in three years.

Struggling growth in China's two largest export markets, the United States and Europe, have led analysts in a Reuters poll to predict the economy, the world's second largest, could grow at its slackest pace in 13 years this year at just 8 percent.