Markets worried about Chinese economy

China’s industrial production grew by 9% in the year though July, says Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC World Markets, in a release.

That compares to 9.2% in June, reports Bloomberg, which adds, “Fixed-asset investment increased 17% in the January to July period, [while] retail sales gained a less-than-projected 12.2% last month.”

The data doesn’t surprise analysts, notes Buchanan, but the news comes shortly after the release of softer-than-expected credit growth numbers and a recent, record-low PMI reading.

Read: Where are emerging markets going?

As a result, markets are “concerned about the effect of the ongoing slowdown in housing on the [Chinese] economy’s performance…Today’s [numbers] are consistent with the view that the economy is showing some improvement but that growth…will remain well below the pace seen earlier in the recovery.”

As well, Buchanan says, “commodity imports have been mixed in recent months, although those of forestry products—an increasingly important Canadian export—remain strong.”

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