Retail sales in China fell well short of analysts’ expectations in May.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
Beijing Chinese industrial growth slowed in May. Industrial production in the world’s second-largest economy rose 3.5 percent last month from a year earlier, data from the National Statistics Office showed on Thursday.
However, the expansion in May marked the slowest growth since February. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected production growth to slow to 3.6 percent, down from 5.6 percent in April.
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Retail sales, a key indicator of consumption, rose 12.7 percent year-on-year in May, according to the data, slowing from the 18.4 percent increase in April. Analysts had expected an increase of 13.6 percent.
Weakening domestic and international demand is increasing pressure on policymakers to continue bolstering the uneven post-pandemic economic recovery. Analysts said last month’s data could be severely skewed by comparisons to last year’s very poor performance, when many cities suffered from tight coronavirus lockdowns.
However, the economic recovery from the first quarter has lost significant momentum, prompting the central bank to cut some interest rates this week.
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