China Economic Data Signals A Sharp Slowdown | WION News

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Now China's April slowdown highlights the dilemma between growth and inflation. China's domestic activity data has disappointed across the board in the month of April, signaling a sharp slowdown, weaker growth, and rising inflation that is likely to complicate policy making in the coming months.

[00:00:18]China's retail sales have slowed to just 0.2% in April, down from 1.7% the previous month. That was much worse than market forecast for a modest acceleration. It was also the slowest month of growth since 2022.

[00:00:33]The weakness of retail sales was broad-based. Chinese consumers are now paying the price for front-loaded demand from the trade-in policy, which analysts have been warning since last year. Auto sales continue to show signs of weakness, down 15.3% from a year ago. Replacement demand for vehicles purchased in previous years has not come down now has not come in yet, and many prospective buyers have already made their purchases.

[00:01:01]Industrial production also unexpectedly slowed despite the export boom. Factory outposts the output had slowed to 4.1% down from 5.7% in March. This has also came in as much lower than market expectations, registering a 33-month low. Sluggish domestic activity is dragging many other the categories. Real estate-related categories such as cement, glass, and steel were clear underperformers. China's fixed asset investment also saw a steep drop to 1.6% in the first 4 months of the year.