The 0.6 percent year-on-year drop in May, revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics, was a big miss compared with the 0.2 percent forecast in a Bloomberg survey

China's April retail sales grew just 0.2% YoY, the weakest since December 2022, as HSBC slashes its 2026 forecast and GDP growth projections fall.

China's total retail sales of consumer goods, a key indicator of the country's consumption strength, rose 1.4 percent year-on-year to 20.6 trillion yuan ($3.05 trillion) in the…

Customers buy vegetables at a supermarket in Wuchang district of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, June 10, 2026. [Photo/Xinhua]

May figure misses expectations as fading stimulus, property slump stifle demand

China's economy shows a worrying split in May. While factories are humming with strong exports, consumer spending took a hit, with retail sales falling for the first time in over…