China’s industrial output in the first two months of the year signaled the weakest annual start in production in the country since 2009, Bloomberg reported. Output rose 9.9% in January and February, falling short of analyst estimates of 10.6%. Retail sales grew 12.3% in the two-month period, also missing expectations. A crackdown on government spending probably led to the low sale figures for the two months, which were the weakest since 2004. New local currency loans fell to RMB620 billion (US$99.6 billion) in February, below analyst estimates. The disappointing figures came on the tail of last week’s stronger-than-expected exports growth.