China Retail Sales YoY

China's retail sales increased by 5.9% year-on-year in March 2025, from 4% in the January–February period, exceeding market expectations of a 4.2% gain. It was the strongest growth in retail activity since December 2023, as sales rose across most categories, including grain, oil and food (13.8% vs 11.5% in Jan-Feb), tobacco and alcohol (8.5% vs 5.5%), clothing, shoes, hats (3.6% vs 3.3%), sports and entertainments (26.3% vs 25%), household appliances (35.1% vs 10.9%), jewelry (10.6% vs 5.4%), and personal care (8.8% vs 5.7%). Moreover, sales rebounded for beverages (4.4% vs. -2.6%) and automobiles (5.5% vs. -4.4%). Conversely, sales slowed for office supplies (21.5% vs 21.8%) and medicine (1.4% vs 2.5%), while it declined for petrolium products (-1.9% vs 0.9%). Considering the first three months of the year, retail sales grew by 4.6%. On a monthly basis, retail trade eased to 0.58% in March 2025 from 0.62% in the previous month.