中国工業生産大幅減速:５年８月以來低水平

A few days ago the Yomiuri News on-line reported the following:

中国工業生産、大幅減速…５年８か月ぶり低水準

2014年09月14日 13時31分

　【北京＝栗原守】中国国家統計局は１３日、８月の工業生産が、前年同月比６・９％増だったと発表した。

　７月（９・０％増）に比べ大幅に減速し、リーマン・ショック後の２００８年１２月（５・７％増）以来、５年８か月ぶりの低水準となった。

　７月から２か月連続で増加率が縮小しており、７～９月期の経済成長率にも影響を与えそうだ。

　内訳を見ると、自動車生産が同３・１％増と前月（１０・５％増）より７・４ポイント減速し、携帯電話生産も２・３％減で前月の増加（１０・１％増）から減少に転じるなど弱さが目立った。

　減速の背景には、自動車や携帯電話の生産増が一巡したことのほか、不動産投資の伸び悩みによる粗鋼やセメントなど建設材料の生産の停滞があるとみられる。

(試譯文)

On the 13th the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced that the industrial production in August was an increase of 6.9% compared with the corresponding month last year.

Compared with July (an increase of 9.0%), it slowed down sharply, and had become a low level for the first time in five years eight months  since the Lehman shock in December 2008 (increase of 5.7%).

The rate of increase was contracting for two consecutive months since July, and it was also likely to affect the economic growth rate for the term July - September.

Looking into the breakdown, for the same period it was an increase of the 3.1% in car production which was a slow down by 7.4 point from the previous month (an increase of 10.5%). Also in mobile phone production, it was a decrease of 2-3% from an increase (10.1%) of the previous month, it was a change into reduction and the weakness was conspicuous.

Serving as the backdrop was the slowdown in the production of construction materials such as crude steel and cement etc. due to a real estate investment stagnation, in addition to the increased production of mobile phones and car had run its course.

I think the situation will improve when the government relaxes its control over real estate investments.