China’s industrial production rose 0.61% MoM and 5.8% YoY (vs 5.9% YoY expected) in May, supported by strength in manufacturing, especially high-tech and transport equipment.

• Manufacturing output grew 6.2% YoY, led by auto production (+11.6% YoY), electrical machinery (+11.0% YoY), and electronic equipment (+10.2% YoY).
• High-tech manufacturing rose 8.6% YoY; production of industrial robots surged 35.5% YoY, while solar cells rose 27.8% YoY.
• Mobile handset production dropped -7.2% YoY with smartphone production down -1.7% YoY.
• Construction material production categories were notably weak in May: cement (-8.1% YoY), flat glass (-5.7% YoY), pig iron (-3.3% YoY), and crude steel (-6.9% YoY).
• New energy vehicle production jumped 31.7% YoY to 1.25 million units.
• Export delivery value rose just 0.6% YoY while the product sales rate fell -0.8 pp YoY to 95.9%.