Tepid manufacturing and property data for April

Poor manufacturing and property data has shown China’s weak property market is taking a toll on factory output, investment in machinery, land and other physical assets, The Wall Street Journal reported. Home sales in the first four months of the year fell 9.9% to US$245.5 billion (RMB1.53 trillion), compared with a 7.7% decline for the three months ended March. Meanwhile, Industrial production by the nation’s factories and mines rose 8.7% year-over-year in April, a slight decline from 8.8% from the previous month. Tepid data comes amid growing pressure from economists for China’s top leaders to loosen credit and remove property curbs.