China Stimulus Boosts Domestic Consumption as Trump Tariffs Loom
- Retail sales beat forecasts with fastest growth since February
- Trump threat calls for more focus on spurring domestic demand
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China entered the fourth quarter with a more balanced economy as consumption growth nearly caught up to factory output, in an upswing that now depends on how much more stimulus Beijing may deploy in the event of a tariff shock when Donald Trump returns to the White House in 2025.
Retail sales expanded at the fastest in eight months in October, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday, exceeding the forecasts of all 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Industrial production increased at a slightly slower pace from the previous month but hovered above a level critical to achieving the government’s 2024 growth target of around 5%.