CX Briefing: Three Economic Indicators Suffer Slowing Growth

A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:

Cooling indicators: Three major Chinese economic indicators lost steam in April. Fixed-asset investment growth moderated to 4% year-on-year in the first four months of 2025, driven by slowing growth in manufacturing investment and a sharper decline in real estate development investment. Retail sales growth slowed to 5.1% year-on-year in April, missing expectations, partly due to continued weakness in auto sales. Industrial production growth slowed to 6.1% year-on-year in April, though above expectations. While growth in production of goods like new-energy vehicles and solar cells remained robust above 30%, the value of delivered industrial exports slowed sharply, possibly an effect of the U.S. tariff hikes.