China Rebalancing Takes Hold as Output Slows, Retail Jumps

China’s industrial output matched the weakest gain since the global credit crisis last month, while retail sales accelerated, underscoring a shift in the economy toward greater reliance on consumer spending as old growth engines falter.

The good news is that signs of vibrancy in China’s swelling urban middle class abound: sales at retailers climbed by the most this year, and that was before Wednesday’s Singles Day -- a record shopping extravaganza championed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.