Heavy news for the Chinese economy as retail sales fall 0.6% in May

For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, retail sales in China fell. The 0.6 percent decline in May was larger than market expectations and the first decline since December 2022.

The decline is seen as another warning sign for the world's second-largest economy, which has struggled with weak domestic consumption for a long time.

The country has set a GDP growth target for 2026 of 4.5–5 percent, its lowest in several years.