BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - China’s industrial output grew 9.8% in April from a year ago, slower than the 14.1% surge in March, official data showed on Monday. That matched a 9.8% on-year rise in a consensus forecast by analysts from a Reuters poll. Retail sales rose 17.7% year-on-year in April, much weaker than a 24.9% uptick expected by analysts and down from the 34.2% jump seen in March. Fixed asset investment increased 19.9% in the first four months from the same period a year earlier, versus a forecast 19.0% rise, slowing from January-March’s 25.6% increase. Reporting by Kevin Yao and Gabriel Crossley. Additional writing by Roxanne Liu; Editing by Sam Holmes Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.