Hopes of seeing a stronger recovery in China's economy have dimmed after the latest data showed a weaker-than-expected reading in April.
Industrial producers rose by 5.6% year-on-year last month, well short of expectations to grow 10.9%, but higher than the 3.9% posted in March.
Meanwhile, retail sales were reported to have jumped by 18.4% in April from 10.6% previously, but were still far from forecasts for a 22% increase.
On the other hand, fixed asset investment recorded an increase of 4.7%, missing expectations for an increase of 5.7% and slightly declining from the previous month's March 5.1%.
Analysts say China is still in the recovery stage where the data recorded is more positive than last year.
However, this recovery is seen to be uneven and far short of what the market expected to see the world's second giant economy grow rapidly again this year.
Initial reactions from currency markets saw the Aussie and New Zealand dollars drop slightly following the release of the data.
