China's economic growth showed signs of moderation

China's economic growth showed signs of moderation in July with major activity data all growing at a slower pace, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Industrial production expanded 9 percent from a year earlier in July, down from the increase of 9.2 percent a month earlier.

Retail sales rose 12.2 percent last month, also 0.2 percentage points weaker than the pace in June. Fixed-asset investment added 17 percent in the first seven months, less than the growth of 17.3 percent in the first half.

The weakening performance was in line with the surprisingly low credit data, which were also released today. According to the central bank, China's new yuan lending declined to 385.2 billion yuan (US$62.6 billion) in July from 1.1 trillion yuan in June. It was much lower than the market consensus of 780 billion yuan as well.

Wang Tao, a UBS economist, said the data were a negative surprise, contrasting recent signs of further policy easing and persistently low interbank rates.