BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) - China continues to supply evidence that the country first into the coronavirus crisis will be the first major economy to pull out of it, with data this week set to show an accelerating recovery.

Growth in industrial production is forecast to have picked up and retail sales may have stopped shrinking in July in numbers due this Friday (Aug 14). Investment for the first seven months of the year is expected to contract, compared with a year earlier, but at a slower pace than in the previous month.

Recent figures including a better-than-expected trade performance are giving policymakers in Beijing enough confidence to start talking about an exit from virus-crisis monetary policy, and the central bank even warned last week of the ongoing risks from low interest rates in developed economies.

Still, consumer confidence remains fragile and susceptible to further virus outbreaks - and China's industry-led recovery is still at the mercy of global demand and the course of the pandemic.

President Xi Jinping is also, amid the rising tensions with the United States, talking more about the need to be self-sufficient in key industries.

China's economic pickup coincides with rising tensions with the US. Senior officials from the two nations are planning to assess the so-called phase one trade deal on or around Aug 15, six months after the agreement took effect, according to people briefed on the matter.