FX.co ★ China Retail Sales Hit 1-Year Low

In September 2025, China's retail sales experienced a year-on-year growth of 3.0%, a deceleration from the 3.4% increase seen in August, marking the slowest growth rate since August 2024. The slowdown was primarily due to a marked weakening in sales of household appliances and audio-visual equipment, which rose by just 3.3%, down from 14.3% in August. Similarly, sales dipped for gold, silver, and jewelry (9.7% from 16.8%), sports and entertainment products (11.9% from 16.9%), and cultural and office supplies (6.2% from 14.2%). Conversely, the pace of growth accelerated for several categories: grain, oil, and food (6.3% compared to 5.8%), clothing, footwear, hats and textiles (4.7% compared to 3.1%), cosmetics (8.6% from 5.1%), communication equipment (16.2% from 7.3%), and automobiles (1.6% from 0.8%). Moreover, the decline in petroleum and related product sales showed a slight improvement, easing from -8% to -7.1%. On a month-to-month basis, retail trade decreased by 0.18% in September, reversing a revised 0.25% increase in August. Overall, retail activity expanded by 4.5% during the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same timeframe the previous year.