BEIJING, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's key business news from the past week:

INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT

China's industrial output expanded 5.3 percent year on year in the first two months of the year, with the growth slightly down from a rise of 5.7 percent registered in December 2018, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On a monthly basis, industrial output went up 0.43 percent in February from January.

INVESTMENT

The country's fixed-asset investment grew 6.1 percent year on year in the first two months, 0.2 percentage points higher than that recorded in 2018.

Private sector investment rose 7.5 percent year on year during the period, with the pace of increase down 1.2 percentage points compared with last year.

The NBS data also showed property investment was up 11.6 percent year on year for January-February, accelerating from the 9.5-percent expansion recorded in 2018.

RETAIL SALES

Retail sales, an indicator of consumption, rose 8.2 percent year on year in the first two months of the year, flat with that in December, according to the NBS.

After deducting price factors, the indicator grew 7.1 percent in real terms, accelerating from December's 6.6-percent rise.

Consumption in rural areas climbed 9.1 percent, outpacing a rise of 8 percent in urban regions. Online retail sales maintained robust growth, up 13.6 percent in the first two months.

HOME PRICES

The NBS said in a statement that new house prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- edged up 0.3 percent month on month in February, down from the 0.4-percent increase in January.

New home prices climbed 0.7 percent in 31 second-tier cities, and rose 0.4 percent in 35 third-tier cities.

As for home prices for resold homes, prices in four first-tier cities reported a 0.1-percent growth month on month, while that in 31 second-tier cities declined 0.2 percent, widening from the 0.1-percent drop from January.