Economy facing ups and downs but trends remain positive:China

As a string of key economic data in July came in lower than expectations, China today said the economy faced some ups and downs but the trends remained "positive" with authorities looking to consumer spending and services sector to boost growth in the world's second-largest economy.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said pace of fixed-asset investment slipped to 8.1 per cent in the January-July period, the lowest growth in over a decade, from a 9 - per cent increase in the first half of the year.
Growth of industrial production and consumption also softened.
Value-added industrial output expanded 6 per cent year on year in July, slower than the 6.2 per cent increase for June.

Retail sales growth eased to 10.2 per cent after a rise of 10.6 per cent the previous month.
Commenting on the data, NBS spokesperson Sheng Laiyun said the shape of China's economy has some ups and downs, but the underlying trend remains positive.

The economy was running within a reasonable range despite headwinds at home and abroad, he said.
China has been trying to wean the economy off its over- reliance on exports and investment, toward a growth model that drains strength from consumer spending, innovation and services sector.
Economic restructuring is at a "crucial stage," and some of the reform policies were starting to work, weighing on economic growth in the short term, Shen said.

Economic growth held steady at 6.7 per cent in the second quarter, the lowest level since the 2009 global financial crisis but still within the government's target range of 6.5-7 per cent for 2016.
Amid downward economic pressure, China has resisted the temptation of temporary fixes like aggressive monetary easing.
Instead, it chose structural reform as the tool to put the economy on a more sustainable path, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
To push supply-side structural reform, the country prioritised the tackling of industrial overcapacity, reduction of housing inventories, deleveraging to defuse financial risks and lowering companies' financing costs.
The slowing fixed-asset investment growth for the first seven months was dragged by a 22.9 per cent fall in the mining sector, indicating the government's efforts to cut coal and steel overcapacity are working.

Property development investment growth slowed to 5.3 per cent in the January-July period, from 6.1 per cent in the first half.
Private sector investment climbed 2.1 per cent in the first seven months, slowing further from an already weak 2.8 - per cent rise in the first half.
Sheng attributed the continued weakness in private sector investment, which accounts for 61.4 per cent of total fixed- asset investment, to the slowdown in export manufacturing, entrance barriers for private companies in some sectors, limited access to loans and widespread flooding in some areas.