World Economy

China's Economic Recovery Stumbles as Consumption Weakens Despite Factory Gains

China's economy showed mixed signals in August as industrial production outperformed expectations while consumer spending and investment disappointed. This prompted calls for stronger government intervention. Retail sales growth slowed and fixed-asset investment deepened, creating a demand-supply imbalance that threatens broader economic momentum. The weakness extended to residential real estate, where home prices continued declining with used-property values dropping at an accelerating pace. Major developers reported substantial losses, raising questions about the durability of recent policy support measures. Officials have signaled readiness to deploy additional stimulus measures to shore up flagging domestic demand and stabilize the property sector. The divergence between factory output and consumer activity underscores structural challenges in rebalancing the world's second-largest economy away from investment-driven growth.