China Retail Sales Growth Slows More Than Expected in World Economy News 16/04/2026 China’s retail sales rose 1.7% year-on-year in March 2026, slowing from a 2.8% increase in the January–February period and falling short of market expectations of a 2.3% gain. The moderation points to softer consumer demand despite ongoing economic support measures. Retail sales excluding automobiles performed better, rising 3.2% in March, highlighting underlying resilience in non-auto consumption. By segment, catering revenues grew faster (2.9%) than goods sales (1.5%), suggesting a continued recovery in services-related spending. Performance remained uneven across categories. Sales increased notably for communication equipment (27.3%), cultural and office supplies (15.0%), gold and silver jewelry (11.7%), and food-related items, while declines were seen in automobiles (-11.8%), home appliances (-5.0%), and furniture (-8.7%), indicating lingering weakness in big-ticket purchases. Source: Trading Economics 2026-04-16 hellenicshippingnews... window.___gcfg = {lang: 'en-US'}; (function(w, d, s) { function go(){ var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], load = function(url, id) { if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;} js = d.createElement(s); js.src = url; js.id = id; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }; load('//connect.facebook.net/en/all.js#xfbml=1', 'fbjssdk'); load('https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js', 'gplus1js'); load('//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js', 'tweetjs'); } if (w.addEventListener) { w.addEventListener("load", go, false); } else if (w.attachEvent) { w.attachEvent("onload",go); } }(window, document, 'script')); tweet Share