China’s retail sales up 3.5% YoY in Jan-Feb 2023 as economy stabilises

The country’s value-added industrial output, which is a measure of activity in manufacturing sectors, surged 2.4 per cent in the January-February period compared to a year earlier. This was a marked improvement from the 1.3 per cent rise in December 2022.

China’s economy is showing signs of stabilisation in the first two months of 2023, with improvements in both demand and supply. Retail sales increased by 3.5 per cent YoY, and value-added industrial output rose by 2.4 per cent. Fixed-asset investment also increased by 5.5 per cent. The NBS cautioned that economic recovery foundation is still ‘not yet solid’.

Fixed-asset investment, which tracks expenditures on various types of items, also rose by 5.5 per cent in the January-February period compared to a 5.1 per cent rise for the whole year of 2022, local media reports said quoting NBS data.

Despite the positive signs, the NBS cautioned that China’s economic recovery foundation was still ‘not yet solid’ due to challenges from a more complicated external environment and insufficient demand. The surveyed urban rate of unemployment also increased to 5.6 per cent in February, 0.1 per centage point higher than in the previous month.

To address these challenges and further boost economic growth, the NBS said that more efforts would be made to implement policies, boost market confidence, and improve overall economic performance.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)