China's Economy Shows Signs of Slowdown in April

Beijing. Signs of China's economy slowing down have appeared. In April, China's industrial production growth declined, and retail sales fell to their lowest level in three years. This is seen as the world's second-largest economy being under pressure from weak domestic demand and increased energy costs due to the Iran war.

According to analysts, although better-than-expected exports and China's fuel price control policy have somewhat mitigated the impact of the energy crisis, rising production costs are further pressuring the profits of industries.

There is a warning that if the war continues for a long time, consumer spending could also be further affected. According to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, China's industrial production in April increased by 4.1 percent compared to last year.

This growth was 5.7 percent in March. This growth is less than the 5.9 percent forecast in a survey by the international news agency Reuters. This is also the weakest industrial growth rate since July 2023.

Although the good performance of the export sector has helped to somewhat offset the weakness in domestic demand, it has not been able to fully compensate for it, said Zhibei Zhang, Chairman and Chief Economist of Pinpoint Asset Management.

Among the reasons for the increase in exports in April, high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) related industries and the expectation that global production costs could further increase due to the Iran war have led various companies to start stockpiling parts and materials.