China retail sales and factory output miss forecasts

China's retail sales and factory output grew more slowly in July than economists in a Bloomberg survey had forecast, official data showed Monday, pointing to continued pressure on the world's second-largest economy.

Retail sales rose 0.6 percent year on year, China's National Bureau of Statistics said. That was below the 1.5 percent forecast in the Bloomberg survey and down from one percent growth in June.

Industrial production grew 4.5 percent year on year in July, down from 5.3 percent the previous month and below the five percent forecast in the Bloomberg survey.

Fixed-asset investment in January-July fell 6.7 percent from a year earlier, the NBS data showed.

Chinese leaders have faced weak domestic spending since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, even as exports and some high-tech sectors have grown. Authorities said last month that China's economy expanded at its weakest pace in more than three years during the second quarter.

Beijing is targeting national growth of 4.5 to 5.0 percent this year, the lowest official goal in decades.