Catenaa, Saturday, November 15, 2025- China’s economic slowdown intensified in October as weak consumer demand, a deepening housing slump, and falling investment weighed on growth, raising concerns over domestic and global markets.
Fixed-asset investment, including real estate, fell 1.7% for the first ten months, accelerating a decline from 0.5% through September, the National Bureau of Statistics reported Friday.
Property investment fell 14.7% year-to-date through October, while infrastructure and manufacturing investment showed uneven growth.
Industrial output grew 4.9% in October, below expectations, as factory activity slowed during the October holiday. Retail sales rose 2.9% from a year earlier, marking the fifth consecutive month of slowed consumption.
New home prices dropped 0.5% from September, the sharpest monthly fall since last year, and 2.2% annually, reflecting continued weakness in the housing sector. Exports contracted for the first time in nearly two years amid U.S.-China trade tensions, even after the temporary tariff easing agreement last month.
Consumer prices rose 0.2% from a year earlier, the strongest since January, while core CPI increased 1.2%, the highest since February 2024. Analysts say stimulus may be limited for the rest of the year, though targeted investment in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and utilities is expected.
China’s growth slowed to 4.8% in the third quarter, down from 5.2% in the second and 5.4% in the first, as policymakers face pressure to revive domestic demand and stabilize the struggling property sector.
