BEIJING China's industrial output grew 3.7% in July from a year earlier, slowing from the 4.4% gain seen in June, while retail sales also rose at a slower pace last month, suggesting Beijing will need to step up support measures to bolster a stuttering economy.

The output data released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) came below expectations for a 4.4% increase in a Reuters poll of analysts.

Retail sales rose just 2.5%, slowing from a 3.1% increase in June, despite the summer travel season. Analysts had expected retail sales to grow 4.5%.

Fixed asset investment expanded 3.4% in the first seven months of 2023 from the same period a year earlier, versus expectations for a 3.8% rise. It grew 3.8% in the January-June period.

Tuesday's figures come on top of a batch of gloomy data over the past week including disappointing trade and consumer price numbers and record-low credit growth. They suggest policymakers have their work cut out in trying to shore up a faltering economic recovery, and adds to the urgency for more support measures.

(Reporting by Albee Zhang, Kevin Yao and Ellen Zhang; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)