China's Factory Output Slows, But Retail Sales Pick Up

China's factory output growth hit a six-month low in May, while retail sales picked up steam, offering temporary relief for the world's second-largest economy amid a fragile truce in its trade war with the United States.

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BEIJING —

The mixed data comes as China's economy is strained by US President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught and chronic weakness in the property sector, with entrenched home price declines showing no signs of reversing.

Meanwhile, new-home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, dropped 0.22 percent in May from April, the most in seven months. Values of used homes fell 0.5 percent, the sharpest decline in eight months.

Industrial output grew 5.8 percent from a year earlier, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on June 15, slowing from 6.1 percent in April and missing expectations for a 5.9 percent rise in a Reuters poll of analysts. It was the slowest growth since November 2024.

However, retail sales rose 6.4 percent, much quicker than a 5.1 percent increase in April and forecasts for a 5 percent expansion, marking the fastest growth since December 2023.