Production growth in China's machinery sector slowed sharply in the first half of 2015, an industry association said on Thursday, predicting a moderate rebound amid grim conditions.
Productiongrowth in China's machinery sector slowed sharply in the first half of 2015, anindustry association said on Thursday, predicting a moderate rebound amid grimconditions.
The ChinaMachinery Industry Federation (CMIF) said the sector expanded just 5.7 percentin the first six months, while the growth was 11.2 percent in the same periodlast year.
China's totalindustrial production increased 6.3 percent in H1, and growth in the machinerysector fell short of the national average.
"This wasvery rare. The slowdown was beyond our expectation," said the CMIF in astatement.
A survey by thefederation showed machinery makers were afflicted by shrinking demand,declining orders and dropping prices.
The CMIFattributed the lackluster performance to less investment caused by an economicslowdown.
"The sectormay slightly warm up in the latter half of the year to bring annual growth toaround 8 percent, as a slew of pro-growth measures will hopefully takeeffect," the CMIF reckoned.
Annual growthwill definitely be lower than the 10 percent increase recorded in 2014, itadded
