FX.co ★ China Industrial Growth Strongest Since 2021

In March 2025, China's industrial production witnessed a significant year-on-year increase of 7.7%, surpassing market predictions of a 5.6% rise. This growth rate marked an acceleration from the 5.9% increase observed during January and February and represented the most robust expansion in industrial output since June 2021. The expansion was fueled by accelerated growth across all major sectors: manufacturing rose by 7.9% compared to 6.9% in the January–February period; electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply increased by 3.5%, up from 1.1%; and mining surged to 9.3% from 4.3%. Within the manufacturing sector, an impressive 39 out of 41 major industries demonstrated growth. Noteworthy increases were seen in computer and communication (13.1%), heat production (3.3%), ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing (7.7%), non-ferrous metal smelting (6.5%), coal mining and washing (10.6%), automobile manufacturing (11.5%), textiles (5.7%), chemical products (8.8%), and oil and natural gas (6.8%). On a monthly basis, industrial output rose by 0.44% in March. Throughout the first quarter of 2025, industrial production expanded by 6.5%, while the previous year saw a growth rate of 5.8% for industrial output.