According to National Bureau of Statistics, China’s retail sales, industrial production, and urban investment in August all grew slower than expected. Retail sales rose by 2.1% in August from a year ago, missing expectations of 2.5% growth and slower than the 2.7% increase in July.
MIDF said it was slower than anticipated by market consensus. In addition, the pace of expansion in industrial production and year-to-date fixed asset investment also moderated more than expected to +4.5%yoy (Jul-24: +5.1%yoy) and +3.4%yoy (Jul-24: +3.6%yoy), respectively. The slower activities also resulted in the unemployment rate rising to 5.3% (Jul-24: 5.2%), the highest in 6 months. The recent economic data in general points to slower-than-expected growth in Aug-24, adding to concerns over the strength of China’s economic growth in 2024. Despite measures such as subsidies to promote spending on cars and appliances, the slower growth reflected the shift in spending behaviour as consumers in China held back consumption and increased savings.
The house expects more policy actions to be taken by the government, or it opines China would not be able to meet the official +5% growth target for this year.
