China’s economy shows no bright spots in July, calls for stronger action to ease property woes and boost spending
- Retail sales, industrial output and investment also all posted weaker than expected growth in July, while property investment also fell
- Officials also said they would pause publishing monthly jobless rate breakdowns, including for the 16-24 and 25-59 age groups
05:18
Is youth joblessness worsening in China? Beijing’s official figures offering fewer clues
China’s across-the-board weakening of its economy in July, particularly the further decline of private investment and a deepening property crisis, displayed “no bright spots” but only “downside surprises”, serving the latest wake-up call for Beijing’s policymakers.
Property investment fell by 8.5 per cent, year on year, from January to July, after dropping by 7.9 per cent in the first half of the year, marking the lowest growth rate this year.
Retail sales, industrial output and investment also all posted weaker than expected growth in July, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday showed.
“Policymakers do feel the urgency to be more proactive, in face of the disappointing economic data in July and the ongoing property woes,” said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie Group.
Instead of many new policies … there needs to be one that can have a ‘big bang’ impact