By: Mohammed Nabil
China’s economy is getting worse. That could give the country incentive to repair its trading relationship with the US and take more steps to stimulate its economy, according to CNN.
The country industrial data shows increased by just 4.4% in August compared to a year earlier. That’s worse than the sector’s performance in July, when it grew by 4.8%, its weakest growth in 17 years.
Industrial production is important because it measures the output of key businesses in China’s manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors. The latest figure was also worse than the 5.2% growth that analysts polled by Reuters expected.
The world’s second biggest economy has been struggling because of its trade war with the United States. It’s also facing domestic challenges as it tries to rely less on debt to fuel growth.
The new data comes as China’s tense trade relationship with the United States appears to be improving, at least a little bit. China announced last week that it would exempt American soybean and pork from tariffs. That was the latest in a series of steps taken by both countries to cool off ahead of a new round of trade talks.