China retail sales show shaky economic recovery

Beijing: The performance of China s economy in the first two months of 2024 was mixed, official figures showed Monday, with sluggish household consump...

Beijing: The performance of China's economy in the first two months of 2024 was mixed, official figures showed Monday, with sluggish household consumption alongside increased industrial production reflecting an uneven recovery.

The highly anticipated comeback after Beijing lifted stringent Covid control measures in late 2022 was less robust than expected, and the world's second-largest economy now grapples with turbulence in the property sector, high youth unemployment and flagging consumption.

In January and February combined, retail sales -- the main indicator of household consumption -- increased 5.5 percent year on year, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

But the figure was down from December, which saw an increase of 7.4 percent, and was slightly below the result anticipated by a Bloomberg survey of analysts, who had predicted a rise of 5.6 percent.

The recording period included China's major Lunar New Year holiday -- this year falling in early February -- which generally drives a consumption spike in the preceding weeks.