China's economy gained more momentum in the first two months this year, with improvements in key indicators, including industrial production, consumption and investment, making a strong start for 2026, official data showed on Monday.

China's value-added industrial output - a gauge of activity in the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors - grew by 6.3 percent over the January-February period from a year earlier after a 5.2 percent rise in December, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

Retail sales, a key measurement of consumer spending, surged 2.8 percent year-on-year over the January-February period after the 0.9 percent rise in December.

Fixed-asset investment - a gauge of expenditures on items including infrastructure, property, machinery and equipment - increased by 1.8 percent over the January-February period year-on-year, compared with a 3.8 percent decline for the whole year of 2025.

The surveyed urban jobless rate came in at 5.3 percent in the first two months, up from 5.1 percent in December, according to the NBS. The figure was 5.3 percent in February, 0.1 percentage point higher than that in the previous month.

The NBS said China's economy got off to a good start with a notable recovery in key indicators over the first two months, fueled by a more proactive macroeconomic policy.

Meanwhile, the bureau warned of challenges from an evolving external environment, rising geopolitical risks and structural issues at home, saying some enterprises still face operational difficulties.

Looking ahead, the NBS said the country should implement more proactive and effective macro policies, calling for further moves to foster new quality productive forces. More efforts should also be made to keep employment, markets and expectations stable.