China's Retail Sales Fall Below Expectations
(MENAFN) Official figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday revealed that China's retail sales experienced a 5.1% year-on-year increase in April. This growth fell below market forecasts, suggesting a deceleration in domestic demand within the world's second-largest economy.
Conversely, industrial production in China saw a stronger-than-anticipated rise of 6.1% year-on-year in April, surpassing expectations. However, this figure represents a slowdown from the 7.7% growth recorded in March, indicating a potentially limited initial impact from recently implemented U.S. tariffs.
Investment in fixed assets, including real estate and infrastructure, in China grew by 4% during the first four months of the year, also falling short of market predictions.
In other economic news, China's unemployment rate saw a slight decrease to 5.1% in April, down from 5.2% in the preceding month.
Recent Chinese economic data reflects the backdrop of heightened trade tensions between the United States and China, following the implementation of increased tariffs in April. The United States, under President Donald Trump, imposed a 145% tariff on Chinese imports that month, leading to a reciprocal action from Beijing, which levied a 125% tariff on American goods.
Interestingly, despite these elevated tariffs, China's export sector demonstrated resilience, recording an 8.1% year-on-year increase in April, which surpassed market expectations.
In a diplomatic effort to de-escalate the growing trade dispute, officials from the U.S. and China met in Geneva, Switzerland, from May 10th to 11th. During these discussions, they reached an agreement to temporarily lower tariffs for a period of 90 days. Subsequent talks in Geneva on May 14th further solidified this understanding, with the U.S. agreeing to reduce its tariffs on Chinese goods from 145% to 30%, and China committing to decrease its tariffs on U.S. goods from 125% to 10% for the same 90-day duration.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the
information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept
any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images,
videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information
contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright
issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
