4.7% YoY Q2
5.3% YoY Q1
0.7% QoQ Q2
1.5% QoQ Q1
Retail sales were the contributor (2.0% YoY growth, vs. 3.3% expected)
Retail growth is being sandbagged by a few key factors:
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Luxury goods demand being beaten to the absolute ground. Eviscerated.
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Foreign brands have tanked in China - Apple, foreign cars, etc. and have been replaced by (cheaper) domestic alternatives like Huawei, BYD, etc.
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New trade restrictions with the US and Europe have limited Chinese consumption patterns. For example, the RTX 4090 is blocked from being exported to China.
The story not being told is that Chinese factories are absurdly automated compared to the rest of Asia - their competitors are South Korean and Japanese factories, but they're entering markets that are still heavily labour-centric. China is spearheading this new evolution of industrial manufacturing and everyone else is forced to either adapt or die.