China's Factory Output Surpasses Projections Despite Tariff Pressure

China's manufacturing industry caught everyone off guard last month by boosting factory output at a rate greater than economic forecasters had predicted—despite ongoing trade tensions with America.

Industrial production in April rose 6.1% year-on-year, according to data released on Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This was higher than Bloomberg's estimate of 5.7%, but lower than the 7.7% rise in March.

"The national economy faced pressure and grew gradually in April," the NBS said in a release, conceding the country had been facing "a complicated circumstance of increasing external shocks and compounded domestic difficulties and challenges.".

In a potential respite for the world economy, China and the U.S. last week agreed to suspend their trade war for 90 days, reversing some of the major tariffs each had placed on the other's goods.

But other than tensions in trade, China still has its internal headwinds. A long-term slowdown in consumption by consumers threatens Beijing's annual growth goal of about 5%.

New data also showed that retail sales increased by 5.1% in April, short of Bloomberg's estimate of 5.8% and evidencing ongoing frailty in domestic demand.

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