China’s rail freight volume fell 9.0 percent in the first quarter of 2016 from a year earlier to 791 million tonnes, the country’s economic planner said on last week.
For March, the amount of cargo moved by rail freight declined 6.4 percent year-on-year to 274 million tonnes, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website.
The lukewarm reading comes after China posted its weakest economic growth in 25 years last year.
Many China watchers look to rail freight volumes, along with other activity gauges such as power consumption amid concerns about the reliability of official economic data.
