Value-added industrial output on the mainland increased by 5.3 percent year on year in the first seven months of 2026 as total retail sales of goods and services increased by 2.6 percent year on year during the same period, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

For July, industrial output rose 4.5 percent from a year ago, slowing from 5.3 percent growth in June.

Factory output was likely hampered by unusually active extreme weather last month, with three typhoons making landfall and millions of people relocated across China's eastern and southern manufacturing hubs.

On a monthly basis, retail sales grew 0.6 percent in July compared with the same month a year before, slowing from a one percent year on year rise in June despite summer holiday tourism spending.

⁠Analysts had forecast 1.5 percent growth for July.

Major cities on the mainland continued to register narrowed year-on-year declines in overall home prices in July.

The surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 5.2 percent for the seven-month period, unchanged from a year ago.

Fixed-asset investment dropped 6.7 percent, but China made steady progress on a number of key railway projects as investment in railway construction continued to expand, the national railway operator said on Monday.

Fixed-asset investment in the railway sector totalled 440.6 billion yuan, up 1.8 percent, according to China State Railway Group.

Recent projects included the opening of Foshan Station on the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway in Guangdong and full-line testing on the Xi'an-Ankang high-speed railway in the country's northwest.

The company noted that the country's operational railway mileage is expected to reach 180,000 kilometres by 2030, including about 60,000 kilometres of high-speed rail.

A bureau spokesperson said extreme weather conditions affected economic growth but had not changed the general development trend, saying the nation had a good foundation for achieving full-year growth targets and that macro policy measures are expected to gain traction after the politburo meeting. (Xinhua/Reuters)




Edited by Tony Sabine