Despite the trade conflict with the United States, sales in retail in China have not increased as much as they have been in more than a year.
In May, revenues rose by 6.4 percent of the year, the government said in Beijing on Monday. This has been the strongest growth since the end of 2023. In April it had gone up 5.1 percent with sales.
Analyst: Inside, the positive development was surprised. They had expected a decline in the growth rate to 4.9 percent for May. According to analyst Michelle Lam from the French major bank Societe Generals, favorable holidays may have contributed to the increase in sales. She referred to the still prevailing real estate crisis in China, which actually burdened private consumption in China.
In addition, data on industrial production was somewhat weaker than expected. Here the government reported an increase of 5.8 percent in the year after a rate of 6.1 percent a month earlier. Analyst: On average, an average of 6.0 percent expected growth.
China’s economy started in the year with growth of 5.4 percent in the first quarter. The government in Beijing has set itself an ambitious growth target of around five percent for 2025. In the further course of the year, however, the trade conflict with the United States is likely to affect the second largest economy in the world. Both countries have recently achieved progress in trade talks in London. However, observers assume that the trade dispute should burden Chinese economic growth from the second quarter.