BEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - China's industrial output grew 6.8% in December year-on-year, faster than the 6.6% pace in November, but retail sales grew slower than expected, keeping alive expectations for more policy easing measures to shore up the Asian giant's economy into 2024.
The output data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) surpassed expectations for a 6.6% rise in a Reuters poll and was the strongest growth since February 2022.
Retail sales, an important gauge of consumption, rose 7.4% in December, slowing from a 10.1% leap in November. Analysts had expected retail sales to rise 8.0%.
Fixed asset investment expanded 3.0% in 2023 from the same period a year earlier, slightly expectations for a 2.9% rise. It grew 2.9% in the January-November period. (Reporting by Liz Lee and Joe Cash; Editing by Kim Coghill)