In April, China’s retail sales growth decelerated while industrial activity remained robust, according to data released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
What Happened: Retail sales in April increased by 2.3% year-over-year, falling short of the 3.8% forecasted by a Reuters poll. This growth was also slower than the 3.1% reported in March.
On the other hand, industrial production surged by 6.7% in April, surpassing the anticipated 5.5% growth and marking a significant increase from the 4.5% in March.
Fixed asset investment for the first four months of the year rose by 4.2%, lower than the expected 4.6% increase. Real estate investment, however, saw a steeper decline, down by 9.8% year-on-year for the first four months of 2024.
Despite the overall slowdown, retail sales grew by 6.8% year-on-year during a recent holiday period from Apr. 29 to May 3, ...