Chinese retail sales accelerate, but industrial production slows

Retail sales in China smashed forecasts in May, according to data released by National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, though industrial production growth slowed much more than expected.

Retail sales rose by 3.7% year-on-year in May to 3.921trn yuan (£427bn), up 0.5% on the month before.

This was the highest annual growth in three months after hitting a 15-month low of 2.3% in April, surpassing the consensus estimate for rise of 3.0%.

Over the first five months of 2024, sales are up 4.1% on last year at CNY19.424trn.

Meanwhile, industrial production rose by 5.6% year-on-year in May, following 6.7% growth in April and below the 6.0% expected by economists.

Output growth slowed in manufacturing to 6.0% from 7.5%, and in utilities to 4.3% from 5.8%, but picked up in mining to 3.6% from 2.0%.

The National Bureau of Statistics also reported that fixed asset investment had risen by 4% year-on-year over the first five months of the year, slowing from 4.2% the month before and slightly below the 4.2% forecast.