{"text":[[{"start":8.5,"text":"China’s industrial production grew at a slower pace last month while retail sales were virtually flat as sluggish domestic demand weighed on the world’s second-largest economy."}],[{"start":19.1,"text":"Industrial production rose 4.1 per cent in April from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, falling short of a Bloomberg poll of analysts that forecast a 6 per cent rise and last month’s figure of 5.7 per cent. "}],[{"start":33.35,"text":"Retail sales were up 0.2 per cent year on year, little changed and lower than analyst forecasts of 2 per cent growth and last month’s 1.7 per cent. "}],[{"start":43.55,"text":"A Moody’s Analytics report ahead of the release referred to “a sluggish domestic economy and subdued investor sentiment”."}],[{"start":50.55,"text":"State-owned enterprises were driving much of domestic spending while manufacturing growth, particularly in high-tech sectors, was propelling industrial production. "}],[{"start":61.25,"text":"China is still grappling with the fallout on households of a prolonged property sector slowdown. Policymakers have sought to offset the lost economic activity by investing in infrastructure and manufacturing. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"
"}],[{"start":73.1,"text":"Exports have risen rapidly in spite of US President Donald Trump’s trade war. A truce between the two powers, which Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed in October and affirmed last week, has helped fuel growth."}],[{"start":87.8,"text":"The data release from the National Bureau of Statistics also showed fixed-asset investment fell 1.6 per cent between January and April, compared with a gain of 1.7 per cent the previous month and analyst forecasts of 1.7 per cent. "}],[{"start":109.39999999999999,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779075839_8947.mp3"}