China's Economy Likely to Be Mixed in December

China's economic performance in December is seen to be mixed, with retail sales rising and industrial output and investment moderating, analysts said before the release of the data later this week.

Meanwhile, inflation last month may continue to rebound mildly to 2.2 percent on account of higher food prices at the year end.

"The performance is likely to be mixed," said Lu Zhengwei, chief economist at Industrial Bank Co Ltd. "Industrial production and fixed-asset investment may slow down a bit from the strong growth since September, but retail sales will rise."

Lu still projected China's gross domestic product to expand 7.9 percent from a year earlier in the fourth quarter of 2012, a rise from 7.4 percent in the previous three months which was the slowest in three and a half years.

Lu expected the Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, to rise 2.2 percent in December, up from November's 2 percent. He forecast inflation for 2012 at 2.6 percent.

Retail sales may rise 15.3 percent in December, up from 14.9 percent in November, Lu said. But industrial production growth may moderate to 9.9 percent from 10.1 percent because of the year-end effect, and fixed-asset investment may also decline from 20.7 percent to 19.8 percent.

Li Maoyu, an analyst at Changjiang Securities Co, however said last month's relatively weaker performance is not likely to trigger any major policy moves on the part of the government.

Last month, the World Bank revised its outlook for China's GDP growth in 2013 to 8.4 percent from 8.1 percent, citing more fiscal stimulus and faster startup of investment projects.