China's April Industrial Output, Retail Sales Growth Missed Expectations
By Reuters | 17 May, 2026

China's industrial output grew 4.1% in April on year, a marked slowdown from a 5.7% pace in March and below a projected 5.9% increase.

China's industrial output grew 4.1% in April from a year earlier, slowing from the 5.7% pace in March, official data showed on Monday.

The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) missed expectations for a 5.9% increase in a Reuters poll.

Retail sales, a gauge of consumption, rose just 0.2% in April, slowing sharply from 1.7% in March and were well below forecast centred on a 2% increase.

Fixed-asset investment unexpectedly contracted 1.6% in the first four months of 2026, compared with a 1.7% rise in the January-March period. Economists had predicted a 1.6% expansion.

(Reporting by Ethan Wang, Joe Cash and Ellen ZhangEditing by Shri Navaratnam)