Beijing: China's industrial production surged 7.7% year-on-year in March, marking the strongest expansion since June 2021, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. The markets had expected the figure to post a year-on-year rise of 5.9% in the month.

According to Anadolu Agency, all major sectors posted growth with manufacturing rising 7.9%, electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply up 3.5%, and mining 9.3%. Meanwhile, China's retail sales also rose by 5.9% on an annual basis in March. "In the first quarter, the retail sales of services went up by 5.0 percent year on year," the bureau said. Economists had expected an annualized 4.2% increase for the month.

On the other hand, the unemployment rate in China fell to 5.2% in March from February's 5.4%. The unemployment rate also came below the market forecasts of 5.3% in March.