National

China's April industrial output, retail sales growth miss expectations

By Reuters Reuters
FILE PHOTO: A worker wearing a face mask works on a production line manufacturing bicycle steel rim at a factory, as the country is hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China March 2, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT./File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A worker wearing a face mask works on a production line manufacturing bicycle steel rim at a factory, as the country is hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China March 2, 2020. China Daily via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT./File Photo CHINA DAILY Reuters

BEIJING - 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)

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect.

This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 7:01 PM.

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