cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/53673462

China’s economy slowed across the board in April, with investment resuming declines, as booming exports no longer offset a deteriorating economy at home.

Fixed-asset investment unexpectedly shrank 1.6 per cent in the first four months of 2026 from a year earlier, after rising 1.7 per cent in the first quarter. Retail sales missed forecasts and rose just 0.2 per cent in April, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on May 18.

Industrial production also grew slower than expected at 4.1 per cent in April – the weakest in almost three years. The surveyed urban jobless rate eased to 5.2 per cent, after hitting a one-year high of 5.4 per cent in March.

“China still looks like a two-speed economy: strong in strategic manufacturing and exports, but weak where household confidence matters most,” said Ms Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo Markets in Singapore. “The concern is not just that activity missed, but that the weakness is broadening across the domestic side of the economy.”

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A turnaround is nowhere in sight for domestic consumption … consumer confidence shows little sign of improvement.

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The jobless rate of the key demographic of early-career workers climbed to the highest in over two years, raising concerns over risks for employment from AI.

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Car sales plunged 15 per cent in April from a year earlier, the worst contraction since mid-2022, when the country was under Covid-19 restrictions. Purchases of home appliances and furniture – products that used to be buoyed by government subsidies – declined at a double-digit pace.

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