China’s domestic demand further weakens in July

China’s economic imbalances continued to deepen in July, as sluggish retail sales and a fixed-asset investment slump highlighted persistent weakness in domestic demand, reports the South China Morning Post. This comes as analysts expect more policy stimulus from Beijing to stave off downside risks.

Retail sales, a major gauge of consumer spending, grew by 0.6% year on year last month, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. 

Overall fixed-asset investment–covering major areas such as infrastructure, manufacturing and property construction–fell by 6.7% year on year in the January-July period, performing worse than Wind’s forecast of a 6.1% fall.