China's main economic indicators to hold steady in April

BEIJING - China's main economic indicators are forecast to hold steady in April, after the economy expanded at an above-target rate in the first three months of 2018.

Industrial production growth is likely to pick up, reads a research note from the China International Capital Corporation (CICC), expecting the year-on-year growth of industrial output in April to rebound to 6.5 percent from 6 percent in March.

The growth of fixed asset investment may slide slightly to 7.4 percent in the first four months from 7.5 percent registered in the first quarter, as infrastructure investment may still be affected by the "clean-up" of public private partnership projects.

Consumption growth is likely to be stable, with the CICC forecasting the growth of retail sales to decline by 0.1 percentage point in April from 10.1 percent in March.

The CICC was also upbeat about the foreign trade figures, saying "the impact of US-China trade friction may begin to show, but the impact may not be necessarily negative in the short term, as some exporters and importers may front-load trade before the potential tariff hikes."

The corporation expects the consumer price index (CPI) to grow 2 percent in April, down from 2.1 percent in March partly due to falling pork prices.

A research note from the Bank of Communications said the April CPI may fall into the 1.8-2 percent range, as food prices would drop slightly on abundant supply.

China's economy expanded 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first three months, above an annual target of around 6.5 percent, official data showed.