Sluggish retail sales as Beijing reports uneven recovery

BEIJING China's retail sales grew at the slowest pace since 2022 while industrial production accelerated, highlighting the unbalanced recovery of the world's second-largest economy.

Retail sales rose 2.3 per cent in April, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on May 17.

That is down from 3.1 per cent in March, and worse than the 3.7 per cent predicted by economists in a Bloomberg survey.

Industrial output rose 6.7 per cent in April from a year ago, faster than the median estimate of 5.5 per cent.

China's export-driven manufacturing sector has powered the economy in 2024, as a housing crisis continues to weigh on domestic demand.

Exports returned to growth in April, and factory activity expanded for a second month. But consumer prices remained sluggish, and credit shrank for the first time since 2005.

"My biggest takeaway is that China is having a two-speed recovery," said Mr Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Group.