Workers handle auto parts at a factory in Sihong, in eastern China's Jiangsu province on March 3, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP)
Activity in China's retail and industrial sectors picked up pace in the first two months of the year, official data showed Monday, as Beijing seeks to revive spending and navigate looming challenges overseas.
Leaders in the world's second-largest economy are attempting to make domestic consumption a main driver of growth as the once-booming property sector remains mired in a debt crisis.
In a clear sign of the hurdles, top policymakers announced China's lowest annual growth target in decades at a key political gathering this month.
But in a positive start to 2026, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Monday showed retail sales grew 2.8 percent on-year in January and February combined.
The figure topped a forecast of 2.5 percent in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The retail sales growth was the largest since October but fell short of the jumps recorded during the same months in past years, including four percent in 2025.
Industrial production rose 6.3 percent in January-February, the NBS data showed, up from 5.2 percent in December and better than the 5.3 percent forecast in the Bloomberg survey.
And fixed asset investment leapt back into positive territory, rising 1.8 percent during the same period, the NBS said.
The country's surveyed unemployment rate crept up to 5.3 percent during the first two months, the NBS said, the highest since the same figure was recorded in August.
