China’s economy improved mildly in April from the previous month as growth in industrial production and retail sales quickened, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. But combined with slowing fixed-asset investment, the world’s second-largest economy’s recovery was softer than expected, analysts said. China’s industrial production rose 9.3% from a year earlier in April, up from March’s 8.9%. The western region saw the fastest industrial growth rate of 10.8%, 1.4 percentage points higher than the central areas and 1.9 percentage points above the eastern region. Growth in fixed-asset investment declined from January to April from 20.9% to 20.6%. Retail sales grew 12.8% in April, quickening 0.2 percentage point from March, to CNY1.76 trillion. “On the whole, China’s performance fell short of expectations, and future risks may emerge especially with more uncertainties at home and abroad,” said Li Maoyu, Analyst at Changjiang Securities Co. Zhou Hao, Economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, agreed with Li, saying that the improvement in the headline industrial growth figure is largely due to last year’s low base. In the first four months of this year, China’s fixed-asset investment rose 20.6% year-on-year, lower than the 20.9% gain in the first quarter. Investment in the property sector jumped 21.1% during the four months, up 0.9 percentage point from that in the first quarter. China’s economy grew 7.7% in the first three months, slowing from 7.9% in the final quarter of 2012. The weakening economic growth has triggered calls for tightening policies to be lifted, especially when inflation was relatively flat at 2.4% in April. “Market liquidity conditions will likely be relaxed in the foreseeable future, and we see an increasing likelihood for the central bank to cut rates,” Zhou said. Stephen Green, Economist at Standard Chartered, said the bank has cut its outlook for China’s 2013 growth to 7.7%  from 8.3% previously, the Shanghai Daily reports.

Zong Qinghou, 68, Founder and Chairman of the Hangzhou Wahaha Group, tops the 2013 New Fortune 500 Rich List with CNY70 billion in personal assets. The Rich List records a huge increase in the wealth of billionaire entrepreneurs despite a perception that private businesses may be struggling. After a brief downturn in 2012, the cut-off point to make the list is CNY3 billion, equaling the top 10 benchmark of a decade ago. Average wealth grew 16.7% to CNY7.16 billion – the second highest level in the list’s 11-year history, and the CNY10 billion club grew from 68 people to 87. Despite efforts to cool the housing market, property remains the biggest source of wealth as strong demand drove China’s housing prices up more than 8% last year. The property industry accounted for 21.8% of individuals on the list, including four among the top 10. Leading the pack is last year’s top-ranked Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, who came second this year with CNY54 billion. The average wealth of real estate moguls amounted to CNY8.03 billion, 1.12 times the figure across industries. Another notable trend is that the rich are diversifying their business into the finance sector. The average wealth of the 21 financiers on the list reached CNY7.43 billion this year, up 40.5% from a year earlier, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The Old Industrial Base Restructuring Plan, which was approved by the Chinese government last month, has raised concerns that spending on the relics of sunset industries is antithetical to market reforms and a waste of taxpayers’ money. Trillions of yuan are expected to be pumped into the 10-year plan starting this year that will rejuvenate 120 cities saddled with heavily polluting and cash-guzzling state-run heavy industries set up in the early days of the country’s industrialization drive. “I think the plan would hurt the economy more than the CNY4 trillion stimulus package did, in terms of the wastage it would generate,” said Yuan Gangming, Researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “I’m afraid the move comes across as a sweetener to regions that lag behind in market reforms, rather than one seriously aimed at improving productivity through market forces.” From Jiamusi in Heilongjiang province to Liupanshui in Guizhou, the plan covers 95 cities and 25 districts in first-tier cities, including the Shijingshan district of Beijing and the Minhang district of Shanghai, which are the cradles of these cities’ heavy industry. Under the scheme, the central government will set aside funds for relocating the plants, and arrange fiscal transfers to local governments to support the economy during the transition. It will also encourage investment firms to issue bonds to finance infrastructure construction at the sites vacated by the old plants. Relocating heavy industries is a costly exercise. In Shijingshan, the relocation of steelmaker Beijing Shougang to Caofeidian, a district in Tangshan, Hebei province, took six years, finishing in 2010. It cost more than CNY50 billion. Zhao Xijun, Finance Professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said the scheme was a “continuation and expansion of the Northeast revival” plan kicked off a decade ago that aimed at restructuring and strengthening state-owned enterprises. Niny Khor, a China-focused Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), said that the government should not be sustaining sunset industries and prolonging them unnecessarily, the South China Morning Post reports.

China’s consumer price index rose 2.4% in April from a year earlier, but analysts expect the figure to ease again as poultry and pork prices declined sharply amid the bird flu scare. The index gained from March’s 2.1%. Yu Qiumei, Senior Economist at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said the rising costs of vegetables was the major reason for the rebound. Last month, the costs of fresh vegetables jumped 5.9% from a year earlier due to cooler and drier weather. Rice prices surged 5.2%. Zhou Hao, Economist at the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, said the risk of higher inflation was diminishing in the near term. “The inflation momentum has eased sharply after the Chinese New Year, led by decelerating output growth,” Zhou said. “Also, the outbreak of bird flu may keep China’s inflation tepid due to falling poultry and pork prices.” In April, pork prices fell 6.5% on an annual basis while overall food prices added 4%. “The subdued inflation outlook can give authorities a chance to engage in fast structural reforms on factor prices (water, electricity, and energy prices), interest rate liberalization, as well as fast deregulation in project approval and private sector participation in the state-sponsored infrastructure programs,” Zhou said. In the first four months, China’s inflation rose 2.4% from a year earlier, less than the 3.5% target for the year. The Producer Price Index (PPI) decreased 2.6% year-on-year in April, the lowest since last November, signaling weakening market demand. “Nearly all China’s recent data pointed to slower growth in various industries, indicating insufficient demand for powering ahead China’s expansion,” said Li Maoyu, Analyst at Changjiang Securities Co, the Shanghai Daily reports.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) lost their position as the most profitable sector to become the country’s biggest losers last year, according to their 2012 results. SOEs reported a combined loss of about CNY50 billion, financial statements revealed. China COSCO Holdings Co, the country’s largest shipping company, topped the list for the second consecutive year, losing CNY9.56 billion in 2012 after a deficit of CNY10.45 billion in 2011. China COSCO was followed by Aluminum Corp of China, the country’s largest alumina producer, and Metallurgical Corporation of China, which reported losses of CNY8.23 billion and CNY6.95 billion, respectively. Half of the top 10 poor-performing companies were in the iron and steel sector, including CNY4.16 billion in losses for Angang Steel, CNY3.86 billion for Maanshan Iron & Steel, CNY3.83 billion for Shandong Iron & Steel, CNY3.5 billion for Anyang Iron & Steel and CNY3.25 billion for Valin Steel. All the top losing companies blamed their results on the downward trend in their industries and the broader macro-economy. However, Luo Xiaoming, Chief Strategy Analyst with Ping An Securities, said they had been depending on their sheer size to avert risks, which proved ineffective last year.