The data released today by China’s National Bureau of Statistics was slightly below analysts’ expectations, who had anticipated a slowdown to 5.9%.
Zichun Huang, an analyst at Capital Economics, noted in a report that the reduction in external demand “had some responsibility” in this development, adding that “despite the trade truce, the contraction of industrial sales for export worsened last month.”
Among the three major sectors into which the Bureau divides this indicator, the manufacturing industry saw the most significant production increase in May, rising by 6.2%, followed by the mining sector (+5.7%) and the production and supply of electricity, heating, gas, and water (+2.2%).
The entity also highlighted growth in the production of specific goods, such as 3D printers (+40%), industrial robots (+35.5%), and electric vehicles (+31.7%).
For the year to date, Chinese industrial production records a growth of 6.3%.
The Bureau also released data on retail sales, a key consumption indicator, which surprised by accelerating from 5.1% in April to 6.4% in May, whereas experts expected it to drop to 5%.
According to Capital Economics, the consumption data was the “positive point” in May, driven not only by the ambitious plan of government consumption subsidies but also by the trade truce with the United States, which “reduced families’ anxiety over the trade war and encouraged them to spend.”
The official urban unemployment rate also showed a positive result, dropping from 5.1% in April to 5% in May.
Investment growth in fixed assets slowed to 3.7% in the first five months of 2025, compared to 4% in the first three months.
Analysts had expected a smaller slowdown, to around 3.9%.
The Bureau also indicated that commercial property sales, measured by the area sold, decreased by 2.9% year-on-year up to May.
