The latest data indicated the economy is cooling and credit growth is stabilizing thanks to strict and continuous control on lending, said E Yongjian, an economist with Shanghai-based Bank of Communications Ltd.

In a bid to tame inflation, the central bank has required commercial banks to slow the pace of lending and raised the reserve requirement ratio five times this year, punching the banks' ability to lend.

Fixed-asset investment

Urban fixed-asset investment in the first four months went up 25.4 percent year on year to reach 6.27 trillion yuan ($964.6 billion). The investments in property development totaled 1.33 trillion yuan ($204.6 billion) from January to April, up 34.3 percent from the same period of last year.

Retail sales

Retail sales of consumer goods stood at 1.36 trillion yuan ($209.2 billion) in April, climbing 17.1 percent from the same period last year. The growth rate, however, was 0.3 percentage points lower than in March.

NBS spokesman Sheng Laiyun said the slowdown was because the government has rolled back some incentives for consumption this year. Sales of autos, home appliances and furniture, for example, decreased significantly, he said.

But the long-term outlook remains promising as the economic take-off accelerates wage growth, he said.

Industrial added value

The industrial added value rose 13.4 percent year on year in April, down from March's 14.8-percent growth.

"In the short term, power shortages in some provinces will slow growth in some heavy industries, including cement, non-ferrous metal, iron and steel, and chemical sectors," said Wang Tao, chief China economist with the UBS Investment Bank.

Wang said the risk of severe nationwide power shortages that would damage China's growth engine, was slim.

Fiscal revenue

Fiscal revenues of the country jumped 31.4 percent year on year to reach 3.62 trillion yuan ($556.9 billion) in the first four months of 2011, said the Ministry of Finance.

In April alone, fiscal revenues stood at 1.01 trillion yuan ($155.4 billion) in April, up 27.2 percent from a year earlier.

A Win-win Deal

By buying into film giant Huayi Brothers Media Corp., China's Internet behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd. takes a solid step to expand beyond its traditional Internet businesses.

Tencent is set to pay 450 million yuan ($69 million) for a 4.6-percent stake to become the largest institutional shareholder in Huayi.

Huayi is dubbed "China's Warner Brothers of tomorrow" for the leading role it plays in the domestic movie industry. It now accounts for around 30 percent of movie production and distribution in the country.

"The investment is a strategic partnership that will allow new attempts from both sides to combine the film industry with the new media sector," said Liu Chiping, President of Tencent.

"Huayi Brothers is shifting from film and TV drama production to new media sectors," said Wang Zhongjun, Chairman of Huayi. "Tencent's rich experience in customer service and product innovation will provide synergies for both companies in our future development."

Dick Wei, an analyst at JPMorgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd., said the deal would give Tencent "more media influence" as the company widened and diversified its business.

Zhao Yujie, an analyst at the China Merchants Co. Ltd., said the tie-up could help Tencent carve out a niche in the fast-growing and increasingly competitive online video market.

Huayi could also benefit from solid customer base of Tencent, he said. Active user accounts of the QQ instant messaging service totaled 647.6 million at the end of December 2010.