How Did China’s Retail Sales Look in November?

On a year-over-year basis, China’s retail sales showed strong recovery in November 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

The country’s retail sales rose 10.8% in November, compared to 10% in October. This reading was far above the market’s expectation of a 10.1% rise, and it was the highest since January 2016.

Sector-by-sector performance

Building material sales rose 11%, furniture sales rose 8.8%, home appliance sales rose 14.7%, communications equipment sales rose 17.8%, personal care sales rose 10.7%, automobile sales rose 13.1%, and cosmetics sales rose 8.1%.

Economic impact

These sales improvements in different sectors signify that consumer sentiment is improving. After the slowdown in economic activity in China, the economy is going through a transitional phase. From a manufacturing hub, it’s transitioning to a consumer-based economy. Consumerism will play a large role in the country’s future economic growth.

Consumption patterns are changing in China’s economy. Chinese consumers are becoming more selective toward the products and services that they use. As China is one of the world’s most important economies, improvement in its growth drivers could aid the global economy.

In the next part of this series, we’ll see what indicators investors should look for this week.