Consumer Behavior
China retail sales not growing as expected
September 21, 2021
China's retail sales grew just 2.5% in August, compared to a year ago, well below the 7% growth expected by industry analysts.
The small increase is likely due to reduced consumer spend during the latest COVID-19 outbreak, according to a CNBC report. The prior month, July, saw an outbreak of the Delta variant.
"It's hard for retail sales to return to the pre-COVID growth under the zero-tolerance strategy," Larry Hu, chief Chinese economist at Macquarie, said in a note, according to CXNBC. "How long the government would stick to the strategy depends on the vaccination ratio and vaccine efficacy. At this stage, it seems that policymakers will stick to the zero-tolerance strategy at least before the Olympics [this coming] Feb."
