1. China's retail sales barely grew in April, posting the weakest expansion since December 2022 as reduced stimulus support weighed on consumer spending. [para. 1]2. Retail sales rose only 0.2% year-on-year in April, slowing 1.5 percentage points from March, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. This missed the 1.9% average forecast in a Caixin survey of economists. [para. 2]3. The weak reading highlights persistent fragility in domestic demand as policymakers seek to shift the economy toward consumption-led growth. [para. 3]4. The slowdown was driven partly by weaker support for consumer goods trade-ins and demand front-loading. [para. 4]5. Automobile sales plunged 15.3% year-on-year as the impact of reduced tax incentives for new-energy vehicles continued to be felt, while sales of home appliances and furniture also posted double-digit declines. [para. 5]6. The prolonged property slump weighed on consumption, with sales of building and decoration materials falling 13.8%. [para. 6]7. In contrast, catering revenue rose 2.2% year-on-year in April, while services retail sales increased 5.6% in the first four months of the year. [para. 7]AI generated, for reference only