BEIJING, July 15 — China’s industrial output grew 6.3% in June from a year earlier, official data showed today, picking up from May’s 17-year low and handily beating market expectations.

Analysts polled by Reuters had tipped a 5.2% rise, compared with 5.0% growth seen in May.

Fixed-asset investments for the first half of the year rose 5.8% from a year earlier, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with a 5.5% rise forecast by analysts.

Private sector investment in fixed assets, which make up 60% of the country’s total investments, rose 5.7% in January-June, compared with a 5.3% rise in January-May.

Retail sales for June rose 9.8% in annual terms. Analysts had expected growth to cool to 8.3% from May’s 8.6%.

China’s trading partners and investors are closely watching the health of the world’s second-largest economy as the year-long Sino-US trade war takes a heavier toll on businesses and investment, fuelling worries of a global recession. — Reuters