China’s economic imbalances continued to deepen in July, as sluggish retail sales and a fixed-asset investment slump highlighted persistent weakness in domestic demand, with analysts expecting more policy stimulus from Beijing to stave off downside risks.
Retail sales, a major gauge of consumer spending, grew by 0.6 per cent year on year last month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
Overall fixed-asset investment – covering major areas such as infrastructure, manufacturing and property construction – fell by 6.7 per cent year on year in the January-July period, performing worse than Wind’s forecast of a 6.1 per cent fall.
The drop widened from the 5.7 per cent decline recorded in the first six months of 2026.
Meanwhile, industrial output grew by 4.5 per cent in July, down from 5.3 per cent the previous month, driven by soaring export orders.
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