Economic activity data from China for July 2025 is not as good as was expected:
- China Retail Sales (YoY): 3.7% (exp 4.6%, prev 4.8%)
- China Industrial Production (YoY): 5.7% (exp 6.0%, prev 6.8%)
China Fixed Asset Investment (YoY, Jan–Jul): 1.6% (exp 2.7%, prev 2.8%)
Unemployment 5.2% (prev. 5.1%), the NBS says the jobless rate rose in July due to factors including College graduating season
Industrial Production YTD (Y/Y): 6.3% (prev 6.4%)
China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) are trying to remain update:
- China's economy maintained a steady trend in July, despite external changes and extreme weather conditions
The extreme weather included both very high temperatures and flooding in some regions during July.
While the NBS is pretty much obliged to paint a happy picture the reality is that the huge debt overhang in the property market is a weight on confidence and acting as a drag on investment and domestic demand. Add in the tariff impacts hitting exports (although not as bad as was initially thought ... but there may be worse to come).
