Economic activity slows in China

Measures implemented to curb the COVID-19 pandemic have caused China’s industrial production to slow further and retail sales to experience their biggest drop since May. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, industrial production rose by just 2.2 percent in November compared to the same month last year. Economists had expected production to grow by 3.6 percent. Production grew by 5.0 percent in October. Retail sales, on the other hand, fell by 5.9 percent in November compared to the same period last year. Sales fell by 0.15 percent compared to the previous month. Analysts had expected retail sales to fall by 3.7 percent compared to the same period last year and by 0.5 percent compared to October. Real estate investment in China also fell by 9.8 percent in the January-November period compared to the same period last year. In the first 10 months, investment fell by 8.8 percent. Fixed asset investment increased by 5.3 percent in the January-November period compared to the same period last year. The expectation was for a 5.6 percent increase. The increase in the January-October period was 5.8 percent.