US-Iran War Increasingly 'Victimising' China, New Evidence Shows

China’s economy faltered in April, with growth in consumption, industrial production, and investment missing expectations. The conflict between the United States and Iran has dampened momentum in the world’s second-largest economy.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, retail sales grew by only 0.2% last month compared to the previous year. This was significantly below economists’ forecasts of a 2% increase and represents a slowdown from the 1-point-7% growth seen in March. Referring to Wind data, this figure marks the weakest growth since December 2022, following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in China.

China’s industrial production surged by 4.1% in April compared to the previous year, slowing from 5.7% in March and falling below the 5.9% increase predicted in a Reuters poll. Urban fixed-asset investment, including real estate and infrastructure, contracted by 1.6% in the first four months of this year, compared to an expected growth of 1.6%. During the January to March period, urban investment had increased by 1.7% year-on-year.

The decline in investment was driven by the property sector, with investment flows plunging 13.7% this year up to April, a deeper drop than the 11.2% decline seen in the first three months. Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing grew by 4.3% and 1.2%, respectively, during the first four months.