China's economy may improve slightly in April as industrial activity was expected to grow steadily, property sales set to show the first annual growth in 18 months and deflation likely to ease, analysts said ahead of the data release this week.
"We expect April's data to show signs of a tentative stabilization," said Wang Tao, an economist at UBS.
"Industrial activity may have grown steadier after the Chinese New Year holiday, and property sales could show the first annual growth in one-and-a-half years" after curbs on buying homes were relaxed, Wang said.
She projected industrial production to expand 6.4 percent from a year earlier in April, accelerating from the pace of 5.6 percent in March.
Meanwhile, deflationary pressure may ease as the Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, is forecast to rise 1.6 percent in April from 1.4 percent a month earlier, Wang said.
Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, predicted industrial production may gain 6 percent last month while the CPI could add 1.8 percent, echoing Wang's projection.
"One bright spot is that exports will return to growth and imports will improve as well, helping to stabilize the whole economy," Lian said.
China's economic growth slowed to 7 percent in the first three months, the weakest quarterly expansion in six years. The slowdown prompted the central bank to make surprise cuts to interest rates and bank reserve requirement ratio in the past two months.
Wang said Chinese authorities are becoming concerned about the slowing economy. He predicted one interest rate cut in the second quarter and another point off the bank reserve requirement ratio to boost market liquidity this year.
