China economy sees across-the-board slowing

AP

(Money Watch) China saw sharper than expected declines in retail and home sales, exports, investment and production in April, dashing predictions of a turnaround in the world's second largest economy.

Although China's industrial production rose 9.3 percent last month, this was down significantly from a nearly 12 percent increase in March and the slowest annual rate in nearly three years.

Exports rose 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier, while imports rose just 0.3 percent, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs. Analysts had been expecting at least a 10 percent growth in imports and 8.5 percent increase in exports.

China's home sales transaction value fell 16 percent in April to $50 billion from $59 billion in March and $51 billion a year earlier, based on the difference between the National Statistics Bureau's data for the first four months of the year and the first quarter. Housing sales value from January to April fell 13.5 percent to from a year earlier.

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Total real estate investments in homes, office buildings and malls was up 18.7 percent between January and April, slower than last year's gain, Bloomberg reports.

The situation could be worse than reported: China's official economic statistics are viewed as suspect by most foreign economists and are frequently altered to fit the government's wishes.

The slowing economy has eased inflation fears. China's consumer price index rose 3.4 percent in April from a year earlier, slower than March's 3.6 percent rise, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Food prices were up 7 percent in April from a year earlier, down from March's 7.5 percent increase. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, prices for key food items such as pork and fresh vegetables have been falling for several weeks.

China's economy is suffering from weak demand abroad and a collapsing real estate market. Its banking sector is also believed to be in trouble and most of its municipalities are deeply in debt.

[jefforsythe]

The only time anyone writes about the brutal Chinese Communist Party these days is when it is about finance. Not a peep about human rights violations
It was not that long ago that Chinese people, in their own homes, would not have dared to criticize the brutal Chinese Communist Party and nowadays the cruel CCP is being cursed openly by all. Hopefully, it will not be long before the CCP dissolves and all the people responsible for the millions of atrocities committed by the Party will have to stand trial for their deeds.
The CCP has murdered eighty million of its own people since 1949 and since 1999 has been attempting the heinous genocide of tens of million of innocent Falun Gong practitioners through the use of torture, slavery, organ harvesting and murder. Western governments and media have kept this brutality from their people because of corporate greed, shameful.
This is just my understanding, thank you for your consideration.