China’s economic activity cooled more than expected in October, with an unprecedented slump in investment and slower growth in industrial output adding to a drag from sluggish consumption. Industrial production climbed 4.9% last month from a year earlier, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday, down from 6.5% in September. The median forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey was for an increase of 5.5%. Retail sales gained 2.9%, slowing for the fifth straight month in the longest such streak since 2021. Fixed-asset investment shrank 1.7% in the first 10 months of the year, a ... (full story)