Consumption slowed in China at the end of the first quarter, reports Caixin. This comes as weaker income growth and a declining propensity to spend pointed to fragile domestic demand.
Retail sales of consumer goods rose 1.7% year-on-year in March, missing the 2.2% average forecast in a Caixin survey and slowing from the first two months of the year, official data showed Thursday.
For the first quarter, retail sales of consumer goods grew 2.4%, decelerating from 4.6% a year earlier. Services consumption, measured by a separate retail sales indicator, continued to outperform, rising 5.5%.